The End of Hollywood
by Thisisalex328
Summary: All is well in Hollywood Arts until one day Tori gets sick. Then Cat. Then Robbie. And before anyone knew what was happening the world began to crumble around them with an unknown parasite killing off everyone. Mainly horror and suspense but ships Jori along with some others. rated M for violence and death.
1. Chapter 1

It was Monday morning at Hollywood Arts. The odd group of friends was once again in one of Sikowits' infamous plays. This was one more along the lines of a tragedy and the scene playing out in front of him was towards the end of his play with Cat laying in a casket playing the role of Tracy, the sadly departed wife of Beck who played the part her heart broken husband Frank. He was standing over her open casket, his eyes showing more anger than sorrow.

"You shouldn't have gone so soon...not like this." Becks eyes narrowed in disgust as he turned his attention over to Jade who had been playing as Cristina, Tracy's long time friend. "This is your fault! You knew you couldn't drive and yet you did! You put both your lives in danger and it should have been you in this box! Not my wife..." Beck turned his attention back to Cat who was still lying perfectly still with a blank expressionless look upon her face.

Jade squeezed her hands in front of her lap tight trying to hold herself together. "I...I didn't mean-" Beck cut her off.

"You didnt mean to? You had every intention of getting shit face drunk! You knew what you were doing when you pulled Tracy into your car! And you knew what could happen! You knew and you still-" This time if was Tori who butt in.

"Frank this isn't the time." Tori's character was Laura, Frank's sister in law. "I know what you're feeling, I do. But we're here for Tracy." Tori spoke stern at first to settle him down then took a more soft approach. "She wouldnt want us fighting over her like this. Let's just...give her some peace before we say goodbye."

"No one's saying goodbye yet!" Sikowits stands up from his chair ending the scene in front of him.

Cat sits up out of the casket, a big grin on her face. "Yay I'm alive!" Everyone just looks at her and shakes their heads before turning their attention back to their teacher.

"Look you're all fabulous actors but unfortunately you've all been fortunate enough to never have lost someone dear and precious to you. Obviously." He places two fingers on his eyebrows pressing them together trying to think of a solution. "I need emotion, I need remorse, regret. And would it kill you to shed a few tears? Beck your wife has died in a traget car accident! And Jade you killed her for crying out loud."

Beck and Jade both shrug a bit. Beck explains he's not a cryer while Jade insists that technically it was the collision that had killed Tracy. Even while acting she wasn't taking the blame.

Sikowits sipped on his coconut while he pondered. "Well since I'm not legally allowed to recreate an actual death to get you all in the mood of sadness, I'm assigning you four the next best thing."

"You're going to let me fulfill my destiny of offing Vega?" Jade said just a little too enthusiastically.

"No Jade, not today."

Tori practically jumped at her teacher "Sikowits what the h-"

"The four of you will visit a cemetery, think about all the happy people who are now dead and lifeless, feel sad, cry, and harness those emotions to use in this play." The four teenagers looked at their crazy teacher unamused at the stupid idea.

"Are you sure I cant just kill little miss peachy over here?" Jade motioned over towards Tori.

"No Jade you may not. She has an important role to play and I will not find a replacement with such short notice." Tori can not believe the conversation happening in front of her right now. As if she wasn't even there! "Now if you dont mind, I have to...take care of...something. You're all excused!" And with that Sikowits stormed out of the theatre sipping his coconut like the weirdo he is.

Later that evening Beck, Jade, Cat, and Tori did as their teacher instructed and went to a cememtary. It was still pretty early into the evening leaving plenty of daylight for them to explore the graves. No body really wanted to be there, not even Jade. And death was kind of her thing. Beck just wanted to get this over with, not really seeing how looking at tombstones could make him feel any different. Tori had no idea what Sikowits could have had going through his head sending them to a cemetary to feel bad, but she was trying her best to be optimistic about the strange idea the even more bizarre teacher came up with. And Cat. Well she was her usual self skipping up the paths separating the rows upon rows of graves.

To be honest, they didn't really know how they were supposed to "get in the feel" of being overcome with sadness just by being there. Sure they were surrounded by corpses buried six feet under but it's not like they knew any of them.

Jade stopped walking and stomped her boot into the dirt beneath her. "God, why are we even doing this dumb shit? None of us even give a damn about these dead guys."

Cat stopped her skipping as well. "Dont say that, they might be dead and moldy but they can still hear you." She walked over to a random tombstone and knelt down in front of it. "You cant tell me Harold Gardner here didn't have a good life. Maybe a wife who loved him dearly. Seven children who were oh so lovely and grateful towards their mommy and daddy Gardners who raised them to be law abiding citizens. Surely I'd give a hoot about him." Cat closes her eyes imagining the made up life she came up with for Harold.

Tori walks over to her kneeling friend with all the intentions of backing her up. "Yeah Jade, just cuz you don't care about poor Harold here doesn't mean he didn't have people who do care." She went over to the stone next to the dead man's and read it briefly. "I mean look here at this...oh."

Cat opens her eyes breaking her imagination. "Oh? What's oh?"

Beck decides to let himself join the conversation and approaches the stone besides Harold's. He too reads the description and holds back a short chuckle. Getting impatient and wanting to know what's got everyone's attention, Jade pushes Beck aside to be able to see the inscription. She openly laughs and doesnt hesitated to break the news to her innocent friend.

"Hey Cat I don't think your buddy here had a wife." She continues laughing when the little red head asks what that's supposed to mean. "Well he may not have had a wife, but he did have a Walter."

Still laughing she manages to calm down just enough to see Cat closely inspect the grave beside her. It read in big letters, "Walter Gardner" and right below that stated, "Here lies the ever loyal partner of Harold Gardner"

After a few seconds, the realization of what was implied dawned on her. And with a hand coming up to touch her own lips she spoke a long "Ooooh...so he had a husband who he raised seven beautiful children with. Dang it! I was so close too."

The gang had a quick laugh, all except for Tori who had just been staring at Walter's tombstone. First in surprise but now has turned into a glazed over stare with a light blush adorning her cheeks as she was clearly trapped in thought. This didnt go unnoticed by the goth girl.

"Snap out of it Vega." Jade snapped her fingers twice bringing the popstar back into reality. "You can't go day dreaming about some dead gay guy, it's weird."

"It's not weird!" Tori nearly shouts defensively. _"Real smooth tori.."_

Jade raises an eyebrow noticing a shift in the other girls demeanor. "I don't know, it seems pretty weird to me."

"There's nothing weird about being a gay guy, or girl for that matter. Walter could love whoever he wanted to." She gets up and holds her head high as if standing up for the dead man.

"...well yeah duh, I was talking about the part when you started fantasising about Harold's lover here."

It was at that moment Tori realised her other two friends had stopped laughing and was now looking at her with amused grins settled on their faces. Tori felt her face begin to heat up and desperately searched for a way out of the spotlight she had put herself in. She chose to ditch the scene completely wandering off to some other graves pretending to be interested in them.

"Oh look, this one says Laura Shafely, beloved mother and wife."

Cat came over to take a look as well, along with peering over to the next stone. A huge smile came over her and she excitedly said, "Look Tori! Laura had a wife too!"

The blush on Tori's face deepened and she groaned giving up her goal to avoid the topic. As amusing as it was to Jade to see Tori suffering under her own embarrassment, there was one thought crossing her mind. _"Interesting..."_

They eventually continued onto other parts of the cemetary looking at different graves and thinking up possible life stories for the departed souls. It was starting to get dark for they were there for nearly two hours now. Currently at a grave of a woman named Caterina Smith, Cat set her eyes on the name with a frown. There were fresh flowers surrounding the tombstone, it must have been a recent memorial service. Either that or this person had someone who still deeply missed her and cared enough to gift her some nice decor as she rests.

"Guys I don't feel so good anymore." She starts to sway a bit before her legs give out beneath her.

Beck reacts quickly enough to catch her before she gets close to hitting the ground. "Woah there, you okay Cat?"

She looks up at him and nods. Her eyes fall to the grave once more. "Yeah I was just thinking. Dieing is scary. One second you're off being someone's someone and then you're gone and being stuffed in a hole. I mean the flowers are nice but Caterina can't even smell them from way down there. It's sad..." Moisture builds up in her eyes a bit. The tears never come close to falling but the feeling is still there.

Beck tries to get her back on her feet and she does for a few seconds before feeling nauseous suddenly. Her hand flies up to her mouth to stop any tempted vomit from coming up.

"I think I wanna go home now..."

Beck looks to Jade seeing if she will do the honors. "Oh no, I'm not letting Cat throw up in my car. Not again."

"Sorry Jadey, that was one time and you said the rollercoaster wouldnt go upside down."

"Yeah well that was one time too many. Besides I just got the smell out last week and I'd rather not sit through that trauma again. Beck it's your turn."

He sighs and wraps his arm around his dizzy friends shoulders. "Alright alright, but you owe me." He says to Jade.

"No I don't."

Another sigh. "Fine, whatever. You two gonna be fine with us gone?" He looks between the two girls hoping there wont be an unexpected burial while hes gone. Mostly due to Jade's unconditional hostility towards Tori.

Jade looks to Tori, a grin appears over her lips sending a chill to crawl up the other girls spine. "I think we can manage."

He looks between the two for just another moment before saying his goodbyes and walking off to his car with Cat practically hanging off of him.

The two girls now left alone to themselves in the quickly darkening cemetery. The sun was almost completely gone now as it was setting. Up above them were some dark clouds were rolling in as well. The scenery was looking more sinister by the second and it would be an understatement to say that Tori was getting a little uneasy next to her dark haired friend.

"So..." Tori began slowly, catching the attention the other girl. "...wanna check out some more tombstones or-"

"Nope, see ya." Jade began walking off in the direction of her car.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Home."

Tori looked lost for a second. "Well can I get a ride home too?" She still hadn't gotten her license and hitched a ride with Beck on their way over here. But now he had gone and unfortunately Jade was her only way of transportation.

"I think you'll be fine. You're a big girl Vega, I'm sure you'll figure something out. Or not. I dont care." Jade got into her car started it up and waved to Tori with a smile and mischief in her eyes before speeding away back to her own house.

Taking in a deep breath to settle her nerves, Tori pulled out her phone to call Trina to come get her. Only problem was her phone was dead. She couldn't believe it, or maybe she could considering this was expected of Jade to leave her stranded. In the dark. At a cemetery. Then it started to rain.

_"Great. Just great. At least I'm not too far from home."_ It was true, the Vega household was basically up the street. It was a straight road back to her house but it was also almost 3 miles down the road. Which normally wouldnt be too bad had it not been pouring down raining.

About twenty five minutes later Tori found herself outside her front door completely winded from running herself home. She hair and clothes were drenched, her make up was running down her face and her thighs were burning. _"I really need to start running again."_ Once inside, her mother watched her from the kitchen as she came in, slammed the door shut, and dragged herself upstairs to take a shower.

Holly Vega turned to her husband who was reading the newspaper seemingly unaware his daughter came home. "I guess the cemetary didnt go well." A loud sneeze could be heard from the upstairs bathroom.

David replied to his wife, flipping a page. "It would seem not."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I just wanted to point out that after going back and reviewing chaper 1's upload, I noticed the italics didn't transfer over. So I went back and added them in so you all can know when the characters are thinking rather than talking. I'll be sure to watch out for that from here on out.**

**Also a quick thank you to Invader Johnny for being my first reviewer. Its been some years since I've written anything and it felt awesome to know someone enjoyed my story so far :) thanks again and enjoy chapter 2!**

Tori woke up with a headache. She looked over to her alarm clock blaring white noise and flew her arm over nearly knocking it off her night stand. Somehow she blindly hit the button to turn off the horrid sound blasting out of it.

She managed to pull herself out of bed and slowly got to the bathroom. It was 6:30am so Trina was still sleeping meaning she didnt have to fight and wait to use the toilet and get ready. It was an extra thirty minutes of sleep she was willing to sacrifice for the peace and quiet before her sister wreaked havoc upon everything she passed. After doing her morning business, she managed to get a good look at herself. Tori had red cheeks and her eyes were slightly blood shot along with the essence of lacking the will to stay awake. She felt groggier than normal and wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep indefinitely. With a heavy sigh and some forced will power she brushed her teeth and put on some make up to at least give the illusion she wasn't sick and waiting for death to take her.

Eventually Trina woke up got ready and took the two of them to school. The first couple classes were bareable but once Tori had gotten to Sikowits' class and she was required to stand and act during another rehearsal, she really began to feel the wear and tear of her oncoming fever.

Beck walked up to the casket Cat was once again laying in. "You shouldn't have gone so soon..." this time he closed his eyes pretending to hold back tears. "...not like this." He looked over to Jade more hurt than angry. Going for a more crushed feel rather than attacking her with accusations. "This is your fault. You knew you couldn't drive and yet you did...then you put both your lives in danger. It should have been you in this box! Not my wife..." Beck turned his eyes down to Cat. His teacher watched the new approach seemingly pleased with his change of direction.

Jade took a slightly different approach as well. Instead of coming off as weak as yesterday, she went for a more pleading line. "Frank I never meant to-"

"Oh you never meant to? You had every intention of getting shit face drunk!" He pauses, releasing his pent up agression. "You knew what you were doing when you pulled Tracy into your car. And you knew what could happen. You knew and you still-"

Beck stopped talking waiting for Tori to cut him off with her next time but it never came. He looked past Jade at Tori and she just stood there staring off into nothing. Sikowits cleared his throat in a way to nudge the act along. It seemed to work judging by the startled jump from the distracted actress.

"Oh uhm...Frank this isn't the time. I know what you're feeling, but we're here for Stacy."

Beck leaned over to whisper, "Tracy."

"Right. She wouldn't want us...uh ah-" Tori let out a sneeze. She regained her composure and continued. "She wouldn't want us fighting over her like this. Let's ju-" Another sneeze. "...just give her some peace before we say goodbye."

Sikowits interrupted the next segment before they began. "Toro, I want you to redo your lines, with less nose fluids please." Woth a roll of his hand the scene was reset.

"Yes okay." She started over again. "Frank, this is...isn't..is- ah choo!" Tori let out a chorus of sneezes one after the other until Sikowits stood up and begged her to stop, followed by sending her down to the nurse which she doesnt mind considering her head has been pounding since before she stepped up on stage.

Now that Tori had left, they rest of the crew were told to redo one of the earlier scenes before Tracy's untimely death. Specifically the one where she and Cristina were going out to get drinks before the accident occurred.

Cat was getting up and out of the casket, but not without getting lightheaded and moving her hands up to her face holding it still. "Woah! Stop the room from falling!"

"Cat we're not even drunk yet!" Jade grabs the dizzy girls arm and yanks her the rest of the way out of the box.

After getting back on her feet, Cat thinks for a second perking up. "I guess that just makes me an awesome actress, I even fooled myself haha!"

"Again, we're not drunk "yet"." They moved a few props around ditching the casket and rolling over what's supposed to be the countertop to the bar they're at.

"Is everyone ready?" Sikowits asked the two girls, which they gave a quick thumbs up. Beck wasnt in this scene so he stepped off the stage grabbing his water before kicking back to watch the show. "And...action!"

Jade started them off, "Come on, a couple drinks isn't gonna hurt anyone. You've been busy all week and it's time to let loose!" She looped her arm into Cat's and strutted over to the bar. "I'll even pay this time."

Cat looked around the bar at the "crowd" and spoke with her brows furrowed. "I don't know, you know I have a lot to get done for the office. Plus these guys are a little shady don't ya think?" That last part was whispered as if to not let the other patrons hear her.

"Please, these guys will lighten up as soon as the music picks up." She pretends to order a couple drinks for them and Cat looks around a bit nervously. Suddenly her eyes catch a glimpse of something strange, pulling her from her character.

"Is that a butterfly?" The red head breaks character and her eyes light up. She tries to chase after it running around the set with her arms stretched out in front of her.

Jade looks at her annoyed. "Hey that's not part of the script." But Cat doesn't listen still following the tiny insect around until it stops, hovering right in front of her. Sikowits doesn't say anything but instead just watches her, intrigued at her improv. He patiently waits to see how it plays out.

The butterfly slowly lowers itself down and Cat lays her arm out for it to land on. It touches down on her hand and she let's out a little giggle. Her eyes fixed themselves on the tiny thing admiring the bright blue color of its wings and the black bits tracing the edges and decorating it with miniature swirls throughout it. With her other hand she reaches out to stroke it gently but suddenly it bites down on the back of her wrist.

"Ouch!" Instinctively the hand that was once going to pet it came crashing down on top of it. Effectively killing the creature. "Oh no, I'm sorry little bug!" Tears started to fill her big brown eyes feeling instant regret for killing the beautiful little thing.

"What the hell Valentine? Are you done playing now?"

"Jadey I didn't mean to smoosh it..." The tears were almost falling.

"Smoosh what?" Jade was now getting pissed at her friend for not only breaking character and ruining their rehearsal, but also for crying to her over nothing.

"The butterfly!" Cat ran over to Jade and lifted up her hand to show her the dead butterfly but there was nothing there except a reddening hand print from when she smacked herself. "Wait where'd it go?" She looked around the floor of the stage not finding a single fragment of the bug.

Sikowits spoke up, done with watching the silly charade. He even gave a small bit of claps as a praise. "Very good improv Cat. I was convinced I was blind until Jade didn't see it either. But unfortunately there are no butterflies in my play and I don't feel like rewriting it to squeeze in some. So please, no more chasing imaginary critters unless they're relevant to the scene."

But Cat was sure it was there. It bit her and everything, there was no way it could have just been pretend. She got dizzy again, which she thought was from the mild exercise she put herself through. But this time she actually stumbled back and almost fell off the stage stopping only a foot away from the ledge. Had it not been for Jade grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward, she most definitely would have tumbled back and down. But instead she ended up being pulled forward and falling face first into the stage. Significantly better than falling to her doom, but still hurt some.

Sikowits put his fingers to his eyebrows, much like he did while watching the kids awful performance the day before, and called it quits for today as well. Everyone was dismissed again and had more than twenty minutes of free time before their next class.

Jade stormed out of the theater, passing by one of the chairs in the audience to snag her bag and left. She walked outside to her car and reached into the holder connected to the driver side door searching for something. Only a few seconds later she pulled out a carton and popped out a cigarette and lighting it.

Not many people knew she smoked. Only because she didn't like people and had no reason to go spreading the news around. A couple of other students had seen her before and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to try and engage her for some friendly conversation. As if having a cigarette in her mouth made her any less dangerous to approach. She promptly pressed the lit stick into each and every one of their foreheads, branding them as a warning sign to anyone thinking she was "smokers friendly". She let out her puff along with a smile remembering the pain she caused them. _"Idiots."_

To the right of her, she saw Tori walking out of the school typing away on her phone. After pressing another button and putting it away she looked over to Jade and thought for a second before walking over to sit next to her. Taking note of the lit tobacco, she positioned herself to the other side of the girl.

"Hey Jade." Tori's voice was starting to thicken with a layer of sick surrounding her vocal chords.

Jade took another hit of her cigarette and blow the smoke out. "Vega." She didn't look at her, instead choosing to focus on a tree way off on the other side of the parking lot.

"I got sent home. Guess that run home last night got me sick." Her voice was going south but even still she tried to make it sound angry. It just ended up coming out nasally.

"Wow I wouldn't have guessed." Jade took a glance at her sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Gee, thanks. I love your consideration."

"Just another random act of kindness I guess."

There was silence between them for a moment until Tori checked her phone again noticing the time. "Hey how come you're not in Sikowits' class? Theres still twenty minutes left."

"He cut it short cause Cat was chasing an imaginary butterfly around the stage and started crying for no reason."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, that and "Laura" couldn't remember her lines without dieing."

Tori cocked her head to the side confused. "What do you mean? Laura's already dead." She tried to remember what the tombstone read as far at the birth to death dates were.

"I mean you stupid."

_"Oh yeah duh, I'm Laura in the play! Oh I just had to pick the grave of a lesbian named Laura didn't I? What a fucking coincidence."_ She didn't notice she had started blushing until Jade mentioned it.

"You dont look so good Vega. Aren't you supposed to go home or something?"

"Oh yeah." _"Thank God she thought it was just my fever."_ She pulled out her phone again checking her texts. Sighing with disappointment she answers her. "My dad is busy at work and my mom is out shopping for groceries and can't get here for another hour at the soonest." She props her chin up on her hand and contemplates what to do with herself until her mom gets her.

Jade thought about abandoning her to suffer (again) for the next hour but decides to not be a total gank today. "I'll take you home." She finishes the last of her cigarette and tosses it down a nearby gutter before getting up and walking to her car.

Tori wasn't sure if this was some kind of trick. Or maybe even another plan to leave her miles away from home before deserting her. She was skeptical to say the least. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, I need some air from this place." The car was unlocked and now Jade was standing beside it ready to get in. "Are you coming or not?"

Thinking it over again, she got up and jogged over to Jade's car and getting in. If she were to be dropped off and abandoned once again she could always just ask her mom to get her from there. The car started up and they were out of the school parking lot in seconds.

There was no talking. No music. And no traffic. Which normally no traffic would be great especially since Jade still needed to get back to school on time for the next class, but that meant there was absolutely no distraction from the awkward silence filling the car. It was only eight minutes but it felt as long as sitting through an entire history lecture. Long, boring, and the constant question of when it will end.

They get to the Vega household and Tori unbuckled her seatbelt right away. She was going to say a quick thanks but Jade spoke first.

"So...sorry I got you sick." She didn't look at the other girl as she spoke. "I didn't think you'd take the long way and run home. Just figured you'd call someone to get you."

Tori was kind of shocked at the apology. She didn't really expect one to be honest. "Well I would have but my phone died." Jade lowered her hands to grip the bottom of the steering wheel. She looked like she felt...guilty? "Thanks for driving me home today though."

"Yeah whatever."

Tori wanted to say something else to her but she didn't know what exactly. Just having one of these rare moments where The Jade West wasn't being sarcastic and cruel was always a special treat for her. And as much as she wanted it to last a little longer, she knew that pressing her luck would force the other girl into her normal ways. So she simply said another thank you and got out of the car.

She watched as Jade backed out of her driveway and headed back to the school. It was a nice change of events to end her little stream of bad luck. Until she realized she didn't have her house key. _"I guess I'm still waiting for Mom then..."_

Jade got back to school, but not before stopping for coffee making her a little late. She opened the door to her math class and sat down next to Andre who had saved her a seat. Out of their group of friends, they were the only ones who took a calculus course so they stuck together. Otherwise they'd have to risk sitting alongside Sinjin and his crowd of...others.

No one looked twice at Jade when she walked in. They were already trained before the semester started to not question her, ever. Andre, already used to his friend's death stare, didn't fear asking her why she's late.

"So what happened between Sikowits' and now that made you late?"

"I got thirsty." She gestured to her fresh cup of coffee in her hand.

"I see that, but you know we got coffee at the cafe outside." He raised an eyebrow at her knowing there's more to the story than just coffee.

"Shh, I'm trying to calculate."

"We don't even use calculators in this class."

"Well we should."

He thought about that for a second. "Ya know you're right. Why call it calculus if we don't even get to use a dang calculator?"

Then taking it as an invitation to speak, Sinjin himself turned around and started explaining the conundrum as if anyone actually cared enough to find out.

"Can it dip weed, before I calculate how far my boot can fit up your ass!"

Jade was about to snap his little twig neck if he kept talking. And fortunate for him he shut up and spun around to face the front of the room again. Thankfully that provided enough of a distraction for Andre to leave her alone about being late.

She didn't feel like finding excuses to feed him right now and even more so she didnt want to think about why she felt guilty for messing with Tori.

Against her better judgement, she tried paying attention in order to distract herself from the sick girl. It was only a matter of minutes before she felt her brain threaten to ooze out through her ears. _"Fuck this class."_

"Harris did you hear what Cat did at rehearsal today?" They all were a part of the play but Andre was working with the sound crew and wasn't around when they rehearsed earlier. She also knew he had a crush on the red head meaning he would want to hear all about it.

And just as she predicted, he diverted all his attention to what she had to say. "No I didn't, what happened?"

"Well she was chasing an imaginary butterfly and started crying when she "killed" it." She made little air quotes when saying this. "Then she almost threw herself off the stage when Sikowits told her to stop fucking around."

Andre's eyes widened a bit at the last part. "Wait really? Is she okay?"

"Yea I pulled her back before she could fall. She hurt her face though."

"How'd she manage to do that?"

Jade smirked a little. "She didn't stick the landing."

A little later math had finally ended meaning it was now time for lunch. The halls filled with students rushing to their lockers to grab their packed food and money as they tried to get as much of their break in as possible.

Cat was at her locker grabbing her books for the next class after lunch so she didn't have to stop by again afterwards. She was moving fast and slammed the door shut holding it in place as if it was going to swing back open at her. Jade and Andre, still walking together after leaving math, saw the whole thing and approached Cat with confused looks.

"Yo lil red...what's up with your locker? Is it giving you a hard time again?" He chuckled a bit after.

Cat looked up at him seemingly exhausted. "Oh hey guys, no the locker is fine. I was just catching these butterflies in here so they wouldn't be able to bite me anymore."

Jade lowered her brows annoyed that this charade was still going on. "Cat there are no butterflies."

"Yeah huh, I got like six of them in there!" She pointed at her locker insisting she take a look for herself. Jade refused the ridiculous offer. Although, Andre went ahead to amuse her.

He peaked through the cracks and didn't seem to spot any. He even went as far as to press his ear against the spaces to see if he could hear any fluttering. Nothing. He backed away and shook his head as a negative to any findings.

"They're probably sleeping then. They were trying really hard to get to me and I didn't want to hurt them again so I thought maybe if I lock them up it would be the best of both worlds." The two looked at her dumbfounded not sure how to convince her how crazy she sounded. So they decided it was probably best to just go to lunch already.

Beck, Robbie, and Rex were already at the table. The two (real) boys talking about how ham and canadian bacon were or weren't the same thing.

"Robbie I don't know how many times I need to tell you man, but they're not the same thing."

"They have to be! They both taste the same, the only difference is ham is thin and canadian bacon is from Canada."

"Wow that's not even...I don't even think that's a proper comparison..."

Robbie was about to lay down the next piece of evidence supporting his side of the debate until he spotted a bundle of red hair. "Hi Cat!"

And just like that the debate was dropped, on his end anyway. "They're not the same thing..." Beck was left unfulfilled in his quest of Canadian justice but decided to drop it as a lost cause.

Cat bounced up to the table sitting next to Beck. Jade sits down on the other side of Cat. And Andre sits down between Jade and Robbie, effectively being the buffer between the two. Kind of curious to what's getting Becks panties in a bunch, Andre asks, "What are you guys talking about?"

Rex shook his head. "Oh no, here we go again."

"We were just talking about how ham and canadian bacon were two totally different things. But Robbie disagrees."

"Sounds like a dumb conversation." The goth takes a sip of her coffee, now cold, and crosses her legs.

The debate goes on far longer than it should have. Moving from how they're not served the same way, to being made for completely different meals, and even starting up a new debate as far as whether they're the same cut of meat or not. And as much as Cat can enjoy any conversation, she has to agree with her long time friend and say this is a dumb conversation. But as for the boys at the table, they talk about it as if it's the most serious topic of their time.

In the midst of the back and forth bantering, Cat can feel a stinging in her stomach. It was like something was bubbling and wanted to erupt any second. "Uugh..." The bickering stops and everyone looks over to Cat. "I don't feel too...oh no-" Cat leans her head under the table and threw up. Jade jumps up and out of the way faster than anyone thought she could move. It was a quick little bit of puke but enough to leave the small girl out of breath and lay her head down on the table face down. "I need help..."

Those must have been the magic words, because Beck and Andre were by her side to pick her up. They each got one of her arms draped over their shoulders and they were going to escort her to the nurse. Leaving only Jade, Robbie, and Rex at the table.

"I guess we should probably clean this up huh?" Robbie said as unenthusiastically as he felt.

"What do you mean we?" Said Jade before grabbing her bag and heading to her next class early.

Robbie looked to Rex. "Nuh uh, I ain't touchin that chiz. That's all you Rob." As if the puppet was even capable of helping in the first place.

The geek grabbed a wad of napkins and against his better judgement, actually made an attempt to clean it up. And aside from the smell, there was something that made him stop before wiping it up. He noticed a bit of red in the pool of vomit. _"That couldn't be...blood?" _


	3. Chapter 3

Robbie got home from school and all that was on his mind was Cat. She was sent home after throwing up during lunch and upon further inspection Robbie found a trace of what he hoped wasn't blood. He had to go check on her.

Rex was left behind at his house when the boy left. His little friend didn't need to accompany him for this. He caught a public bus and took it down to Cat's street where he only had about a block and a half to walk down before he got to the apartment her nonna rented out. He got to her door and knocked three times waiting. The door opened to reveal Cat's nonna.

"Oh Robbie, I wasn't expecting you to come by. Come in, come in." She opened the door all the way and moved aside to let him in. "Are you here to see Cat?"

"Yes I am." He chose his next words carefully. "She got sick at lunch today and I just wanted to make sure she was alright." He didn't want to scare her with the knowledge of blood in her grand daughter's vomit. It could be nothing after all and just a misunderstanding on his part.

"How sweet, well she's in her room if you want to go say hi. Would you like some tea? I have extra left over from pouring some for Cat."

"No thank you Cat's Nonna, I'll just go say hi now." Then he went to go to his friends bedroom leaving the older woman alone.

She waited until he was out of the kitchen. "What a strange boy." And she sipped her own tea.

In Cat's room now, Robbie could see her sitting up in bed with blanket bunched up around her waist while she sipped on some tea. "Robbie hi! What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. So uhm...how are you doing?" He asked awkwardly sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I'm okay I guess, my Nonna made me bibble tea! So my stomach's feeling a little better now." She had her classic big smile on. Everything seemed normal again.

"Bibble tea? I didn't know that was a thing. And wait, aren't you supposed to stay away from that stuff. Ya know...cause your addiction?"

"I'm not addicted! I can stop whenever I want to..." She looked back and forth suspiciously. But then back at Robbie like nothing weird was said. "You should try it, it's really really good."

Robbie thought about it first, unsure if he should risk catching a stomach flu of some sort. But then he quickly tossed that thought out the window because one, bibble tea sounds amazing. And two, sharing Cat's drink is like almost kissing her! So he accepted the offer and took a sip of the tea. But it didnt taste like bibble.

"Cat this just tastes like ordinary chamomile." He looked down inspecting the liquid.

"No no, taste it again. You're probably just missing it."

So he tasted it again. "Still just plain old sick person tea. Are you sure you're okay?"

Cat took the cup back from him and took a swig of it. "Robbie this is most definitely bibble flavored. I know my bibble."

"I know you do." He told her with a shy smile while scratching the back of his head nervously. Just then something changed in the girls eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked in her defensive tone of voice.

He backed up with his hands up in his own defensive go to stance. "Nothing! Just, I know you really like your candy."

"Dont lie to me Robbie! You're calling me an addict!" She started shouting.

"No Cat I'm not!"

"I'm calling the cops on you!" She grabs her phone and starts dialing hastily.

"Cat! Cat don't call the police I didn't do anything!" Robbie starts freaking out but he has no idea why considering he literally did nothing to his friend that should result in him going to jail.

"Hello police? My "friend" here is calling me a BIBBLE ADDICT!"

Robbie reaches for the phone to end the twisted call shes making, but he can't seem to get his hands anywhere near it as she fights him off.

"Please I can't have him ruin my name! This is slander in the third degree! Send someone!"

Robbie doesnt know what to do so he turns around and runs out of the room as fast as he can and out the door. But not without saying a quick passing goodbye to Nonna who just waves at the boy and sips her tea.

Once Robbie was gone Cat sighed a breath of relief and hung up the phone. Little did she know, that wasn't the police station she called. It was Andre. How she confused the two, no one will ever know. But in her haste to contact 911 she flipped open her contacts and clicked on his number and started spewing off nonsense and Andre had heard all of it.

After she abruptly hung up the call Andre was so confused he was legitimately concerned for his crush. Maybe something bad was happening and she incoherently ranted on about the irrelevant. It wouldn't be that weird considering her imaginary butterfly thing earlier that day. He called her back not a minute later.

After two rings she picks up the phone. "Hello this is Cat."

"Cat are you okay?" Andre asked right away skipping the casualties.

"Hi Andre! Yes I'm fine why do you ask?"

Andre pulls his phone away to look back at it in disbelief. He puts it back up to his ear and asks her what all the commotion was about.

"What do you mean? Robbie wasn't here? I'm just laying in bed being all cozy." She says giggling.

_"Is she playing with me right now?"_ He goes through the previous phone call with her mentioning how she called him the police and something about Robbie calling her an addict and something else about bibble. The only reaction he gets is related to her love for the candy and the rest is utter denial. It was like she had no recollection of ever calling him. It was only two minutes ago.

Putting aside that phone call for now, he concludes that she's fine and aside from an upset tummy, everything with her is totally normal. Perhaps she just hit her head a little too hard when Jade pulled her back onto the stage.

He chalked it up to a possible concussion but she should be fine. They get off the phone and Andre thinks it might be a good idea to let his friends know about this surprise phone call. And maybe ask Robbie what the hell he was doing over at Cat's house.

The next day Cat didn't show up to school along with some other students. Four of which were in Sikowits' class. All the remaining students were called together for an emergency meeting.

"Alright everyone, our cast is dropping by the day and everytime I think we're getting closer to a good production we take two steps back. And on top of that I'm beginning to think no one here is taking my dear coconuts seriously." He drops his head in his hands miserably. "I need a personal day. But I also need money to pay for my home. So everyone is dismissed! Rehearsal is over for today! Be gone children!" And just like that, the worlds laziest teacher just gave an entire class the period off to do as they pleased.

This was perfect because Andre can now kill two birds with one stone. He can fill everyone in on his bizarre phone call with Cat, and kick the living shit out of Robbie, if he needed to, all in one shot.

The gang, or what was left of them, gathered outside in the food court for the sake of convenience. Andre didn't wait for small talk before he jumped right into it.

"Robbie. Wanna tell me just what you were doing at Cat's house yesterday?" Andre had his arms crossed in front of himself clenching his fists as he did so just to keep himself from over reacting.

Rex's mouth hung open turning his head to look from Andre to Robbie and back. Beck and Jade kept quiet waiting to see where this is all coming from.

Robbie stuttered a bit taken back by the question. "W-what? How d-did you know I was there?" The memories of yesterday flooded back to him. He thought for sure the cops were going to come knocking on his door for sure. They never did, leaving him to get almost no sleep last night out of pure terror.

"Just answer the question." The three unquestioned looked to Robbie.

"I j-just went over to check on her!" They turned back to Andre.

"Then how come she called me screaming for the police?" His knuckles turned a shade lighter as he squeezed his hands tighter. Everyone looked back at Robbie. Jade hoped she'd get a front row ticket to a free fight soon.

Robbie dropped Rex on the ground, his hands went numb. "Rex!" He leant over and picked his puppet up and put him on his lap again.

"Dont change the subject!"

"I'm not I swear! Look i just went over to check on her and she thought her tea tasted like bibble and I told her it was chamomile. Then she started flipping out saying I was slandering in the third degree, whatever that means."

Andre leaned over him, looking him in the eyes trying to size him up. He stood there for a solid twenty seconds at least until he heard a nervous squeak come from the smaller boy as he dropped his puppet again. Andre released the breath he was holding and backed off of him.

"That sounds about right. Why'd you go over anyway man? She just had a stomach virus."

Robbie contemplated telling them about the blood he saw and whether they should know or not. But who was he to keep such a secret? Maybe it wasnt such a good idea to keep something important like that away.

"Well yesterday when everyone left after Cat threw up. I uh, saw something." He hesitated to bring out the next part.

"Well spit it out." Jade was growing impatient. Cat was her best friend, contrary to popular belief. If there was something the scrawny kid wasn't telling, she was gonna get it out of him one way or another.

"There was...blood. In her vomit." Everyone's eyes shot open.

"WHAT?" All three said in unison.

Once again Rex was dropped to the floor. This time when Robbie went to go pick him up he went limp, completely falling over knocking his head directly against the pavement. He went unconscious.

Beck ran over to him trying to wake him up but to no avail. Jade pushed him out of the way getting on top of the knocked out boy. She began slapping him across the face and shaking him by the shoulders. "Wake up you piece of shit! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" She tried all she could to shake him awake but it wasn't working. "Damn it!" She dropped his dead weight body to the ground and stomped off.

The boys got one of the teachers passing through the halls to come help out their friend and he was taken to the nurse while they waited for an ambulance. He was just unconscious and there wasn't any bleeding so he most likely just had a concussion and some bruising.

Their next class started soon but Jade was no where to be found.

Jade pulled her car up to an apartment building and barely parked the thing before getting out and running to the door she's visited so many times before. She knocks hard on it until it opens up to Cat.

"Jade you're here! Wait why aren't you at school?" She looks at the clock. "It's almost lunch time." She's pushed inside the house and the door is shut behind her once Jade is inside.

Jade was about to bombard her with question after question until she noticed a bandage wrapped around her right forearm. Her mind was instantly filled with images of Robbie hurting her poor friend and Jade could feel her eyes burning with hatred. "What happened to your arm?" She spoke with teeth clenched shut.

The girl in question lifted her bandaged arm giving her a better look at it. "Oh the butterflies attacked me again." The smile on her face was replaced with a more scared one. "Nonna wrapped me up and put some ointment on it but went to go get some more bandages in case we needed to change these ones. She should be back soon though."

Jade let some of her anger out with a long breath and sat herself down on the couch with her friend. "Cat listen to me. There are no butterflies. We both know they aren't real, now I need you to tell me what happened for real."

"But Jade, I'm telling you what happened." Jade waited for her to tell her something new but kept getting the same answers. "The butterflies kept biting me and I kept swatting them away but the venom in their little teeth started to itch and burn and it hurt a lot no matter how hard I tried to get it off."

Hearing the girl in front of her talk as if it was reality was scarier than the fact that there was a chance she might have done this to herself. They continued to go back and forth with Cat trying to convince Jade she was telling the truth and then Jade begging her friend to tell her what really happened so she can help. Not too much time had pasted until Cat's nonna returned from her trip to the pharmacy.

She rushed into the house and spotted Jade right away feeling instant relief. "Oh Jade, thank goodness you're here. I was so worried for my little Cat. I thought she might've gotten herself into more trouble when I left. Oh i was running so many stop signs to be fast. How naughty of me..." she placed the bag of bandages and ointments on the kitchen table and relaxed some more on one of the bar stools.

"Nonna what happened to Cat?" Jade wanted answers, real ones.

"She said some pretty blue butterflies kept biting her, but I've never heard of or seen such a thing before in my life." Her nonna had the most worried look on her face that Jade has ever seen the woman bare.

This didn't make any sense. Was Cat finally losing her mind? As in actually psychotic, not just her normal loopy self. Jade didn't know what to make of the situation to be completely truthful to herself.

"Oh! I need to pee." Cat jumped up from the couch and went to the bathroom leaving her two most important people in the world alone for a minute.

She did her business and turned the water on to wash up when a familiar flicker of light popped beside her. _"No. Not again..."_

A swarm of the angry butterflies surrounded her. They circled around her body over and over again until they all homed in on her damaged forearm once again. They bursted on impact this time. Their blood was like acid burning through the bandages meant to protect her sensitive skin. Cat screamed as she tore the Wrapping from her arm to keep the acidic poison from seeping down to her skin, but it was too late. Her open wound was burning and sizzling before her eyes and she just wanted it gone.

Out in the living room the two women heard Cat scream from the bathroom and rushed over immediately. The door was locked and Jade was doing all she could to get it opened. She rammed her body into the wooden frame over and over again hearing it start to give and splinter. Eventually it gave in and broke down but it was too late, the damage was already done and Cat was on the floor unconscious. A puddle of blood around her and her forearm shredded. The only evidence of what happened was on her other hand where her finger tips and nails were coated with blood.

She had scratched her way into her arm. There was so much blood and it was still pouring out of her. Her nonna was screaming for help unable to process what she was seeing. Her grand daughter was dieing in front of her and she just let it happen. Jade grabbed a towel off the door and stuffed it in Cats bloody arm and wrapped it around as best she could to try and stop any further bleeding out.

"Nonna we have to go!" She yelled and willed herself to lift her dieing friend. Jade ran to the front door waiting for Nonna to follow but she stood frozen at the bathroom looking at all the blood. "Now! Get the door!" She snapped out of it and ran to the door and opened it for the younger girl. They got in Jade's car and sped off to the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, as it turns out I'm an awful writer and messed up again while uploading this story. It seems I've mislabeled one of the categories. As you've probably figured out by now it's not too much of a humor but instead it's a horror fic. My apologies to those of you who were looking for a good time, hopefully I managed to get at least a few smiles at some parts. I can assure you all that the romance category was intentional so you don't have to worry about that. Sorry for my mistakes, and as always, enjoy.**

There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to take a step back and ask themselves if what was happening a dream or reality. Most of the time it's the age old question of the meaning of life that gets someone really thinking. Sometimes it's a drug induced state of mind making the person question their sanity. Other times it's when some lucky person finds their true match made in heaven. Right now however was caused by the sheer chaos bombarding the hospital.

Jade pulled her car up to the front doors of the emergency room. Cat's nonna was sitting in the back seat with the unconscious girl limp in her arms. And just outside the vehicle were people running in and out of the building nearly hysterical. The two women sitting in the car hesitated before opening their doors and carrying Cat into the lobby.

There was no one at the front desk and Jade was asking anyone near them or passing by to get someone to help her. She was begging people, strangers, nurses rushing past in a hurry, even other patients looking completely out of their minds or injured themselves. Anyone really who can grab the attention of someone to save the poor girl draped across her arms. She wasn't going to play around waiting for no one to come to her so she bursts herself into the closest room harboring another patient being fed an IV and demanded she get help immediately. The nurse ushered her out of the room, Cat still in her arms, and grabbed hold of another passing nurse telling her to stop what she was doing to help them.

The nurse ran off to fetch a gurnee and they raised Cat up onto it and started rolling her away. Jade and Nonna followed close behind until they were stopped before a large set of doors and were told they couldn't enter. Of course they put up a fight but only the older woman was allowed entry as she was a blood relative. Jade was told to go to the waiting room and she would be updated as soon as Cat was stable or awake. Which ever came first.

She didn't want to leave her friends side until she knew she would be alright and continued to argue but the staff member ignored her and ran off to his next prioritized job seeing as his schedule for the past eleven hours consisted of constantly running around trying to pick up the pieces that only kept piling up.

Against her wishes she sat herself down in a chair against the opposing wall. Her eyes were glued to the double doors Cat and her Nonna had disappeared through. And she waited.

Back at Hollywood Arts, the day had just ended and everyone who had attended school was now rushing out to their respective cars to enjoy their freedom. Beck and Andre walked out together feeling strange that there was only the two of them from their group of friends.

"Man it's weird not having the gang all here." Andre said as he clutched the strap of his back pack hanging over his shoulder.

"You said it. It's so quiet without everyone. Maybe we're just boring."

The two guys thought for a second. "Nah." They said at the same time and walked over to their cars which happened to be parked next to each other.

"So where do you think Jade went off to?" The dark boy tossed his bag into the back seat of his car and shut the door.

"She probably went to go check on Cat. Most people wouldn't get it, but they're actually really close."

"Opposites attract?"

Beck shakes his head. "More like Cat was her gym partner in middle school and Jade couldn't shake her. But I guess they found some common ground and became friends ever since."

Andre just nodded his head picturing it all play out. "Alright cool. So where you headed to now?"

"Well I got some homework for Robbie from Mr. Evans so I guess I'll stop by his house and see if he made it home yet."

"Good idea, hey have you heard from Tori yet?"

"Actually no not yet." Beck pulls out his phone to check if hes gotten any texts from the girl, which he doesn't. "Yeah nothing. You gonna check on her too?"

"It would seem so. Besides, someone's gotta fill her in on...well everything." He was right, a lot had happened in the day and a half she's been gone. Little does he know, there's a whole other side of terror he has yet to find out about.

They say their goodbyes and drive off to their own destinations. The both of them promised to keep the other one updated about their friends when they found out themselves.

Robbie's house wasn't too far and Beck got there in about ten minutes with light traffic. Robbie's mother answered the door and greeted him letting him in right away. Everyone loved Beck due to his kind demeanor and charming personality on top of his gifted good looks, so the warm welcome was normal for him even though he hadn't met Robbie's family more than a few times before.

"Thanks Mrs. S. I came by to drop off some homework for Robbie. Is he here?"

His mother nodded motioned to a door down the hall. "He was just resting in his room, but he might be up by now. The school nurse said he had some fall huh?"

Beck remembered how his friend practically went limp after reaching to pick up his puppet and smacked his head against the ground. He winced at the thought. "Yeah he kept dropping Rex off his lap and I guess lost his balance and fell with him."

"Such a clumsy boy he is."

"Yup...well I guess I'll go see hows he's doing. Thanks again."

Beck walked down the hall to Robbie's bedroom and knocked before entering.

"Robbie? How you doing pal?" He pushed the door open and saw the boy huddled on the floor against the front of his bed frame. "You okay?"

The room was dark only being lit up by a small lamp that had been knocked over onto the opposite side of the bed. The bed sheets were all twisted up and tossed onto the floor along with a pillow and some feathers scattered around. Robbie didn't even look at him, he just kept staring at Rex. The doll was tied up to a chair five feet away. Not only that but its arms had been torn off its body and a long crack was shown running down its face running from the left eye down past its chin.

"Woah...what happened here?" It looked like a full on fight broke loose.

Without breaking eye contact with his puppet he replied. "Rex tried to poison me then finish me off." His voice was monotone as he spoke. "But I didn't let him. I'm the one in control not him. And he thought I wouldn't, but I did."

Beck was beyond freaked out already and he had a feeling this wasn't the weirdest part. "What did you do Robbie?"

He looked up at Beck not saying anything. He just smiled and pulled his hands out from around his stomach and pulled out two fabricated arms. Then he started to laugh. But it wasn't a happy laugh that one would let out after a joke or from having a good time. This one was sinister and it honestly scared Beck. He thought about leaving and telling his mom to take him to the hospital to get his brain checked for trauma but he was frozen in place. If anything else, just to know what the hell caused the normally quirky boy to go completely insane to rip off his best friends arms.

Robbie brought his eyes back to Rex, his laughter dieing down as his did. "He can't hurt me without these." Just then he brought out a lighter and set the appendages on fire, destroying them.

Robbie plus delusional, plus fighting a puppet, plus laughing maniacally, PLUS fire. That's the kind of stuff leading up to missing persons cases. Beck wanted nothing to do with that and fled the house not even saying bye to his friends mother. In fact the only thing he did as he was leaving was toss the missed homework onto the couch and slam the door shut behind him before jumping into his car and calling Andre.

"Dude, Andre. You're not gonna believe this."

Andre was already at Tori's house when Beck had called him up. "Hello to you too. What's up? Did you see Robbie?"

Tori was at her desk in her bedroom looking over some of her missed work Andre had brought over for her. She was feeling considerably better than the day before but still ran a fever of 99.8. It only went down .4 degrees but at least her head wasn't pounding anymore.

Andre already told her about Cat stuffing butterflies in her locker and almost throwing up on Jade, which she found a bit too amusing. He also filled her in on Robbie's fall and now hearing that Beck went to go see him she was curious to know how he was feeling. She listened in to the phone call, only hearing his side of the conversation since Beck wasn't put on speaker phone.

"Uh huh...yeah she's a sweet lady. Oh?" There was a pause when the muffled voice on the line rambled on for a minute.

Andre's face changed from confused to disturbed then to beyond freaked out. This was the kind of face strangers make when they hear about the things Jade prefers to watch in her free time. That only meant one thing. Something seriously fucking twisted was going on at Robbie's house and Tori wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"Fuck...damn and you just left?...well I don't know! Did you at least pass on his homework?...Man homework is half the grade in his class...I'm just sayin it's important too! Alright...yeah I'll talk to you later." The phone call ended.

_"That didn't sound too good."_ Tori hesitated to ask about Becks visit to see Robbie and lucky for her, she didn't have to pry in order for Andre to spill the beans.

"Yo Robbie's off the deep end." Andre paced around her room as he went over the new information he just obtained. "Beck says he ripped off Rex's arms."

Tori's jaw dropped, "Why would Beck do that? He knows how important he is to Robbie!"

"No Tori," He shook his head not believing it himself as the words came out of his mouth. "Robbie ripped Rex's arms off. Then set them on fire."

It didn't make sense. Robbie was practically lost without Rex. As in he literally could not go on without his little toy to follow him around everywhere. And now he's ripping it's damn arms off? Whatever was going on, it didn't look like it was going to get better any time soon.

**"Its the countdown! For your love, you're my number one gi-"** Andre pulled his phone out and answered the call.

"Hello? Gramma I told you I'm at Tori's house. Tori, my friend from school. No that's Beck..." He knew his Grandma was crazy but sometimes he forgets just how far off her mind is. "Yeah okay. I'll be home soon then...I don't know that depends on traffic...No one Gramma. That's not even-" She hangs up on him before he could finish.

Tori raises an eyebrow at him in question. "I guess you gotta go?"

He just sighs, nodding his head. "Yeah. But now I have to explain to her that "traffic" isn't a person holding me hostage." How the old woman can function in the real world is beyond him. Or anyone in that case. "I guess I'll see ya around."

"See ya. Good luck!" Tori waves to her friend as he leaves shutting the door behind him leaving her alone again. _"That boy's grandmother sure is a crazy one."_

"Get your crazy hands off me woman!" Jade didn't know why she was in this damned situation but she was going to end it real soon.

Only a few moments earlier, she was still at the hospital waiting for any word on Cat.

She sat in the waiting room for twenty minutes. Or maybe it was thirty. Possibly longer or shorter, she didn't know. Time stood still but felt like a lifetime all at once. But when she snapped out of her eminent shock after being separated from her friend, she remembered she had just been carrying the bloody girl in her arms.

She looked down at herself and saw her blouse had a large streak of red crossing over the midriff and her hands were crusted and smeared with dried up blood. Her stomach turned and if it hadn't been for skipping lunch, she might have actually vomited right there and then. She needed it gone, all of it. Jade found a nearby bathroom to go wash up in. There wasn't much she could do for the smell but at least she could take away the tacky feeling on her hands and wash off some of the blood from her shirt.

She scrubbed her hands for minutes, washing them several times, until she felt that they were rid of any left over staining. Then she removed her shirt leaving her top half in only a bra. Sure it was a public restroom but who was she to give a shit right now? While she was washing out her top in the sink, the door opened and a girl walking in looking to be somewhere in her mid twenties.

The lady walked past Jade not really noticing her at first and went into one of the stalls to do her business. After the flush and a few sounds of a buckle clanking behind the door, she exited the stall and approached the sink next to the now topless Jade. Their eyes met briefly in the mirror but that was apparently all it took for the woman to make a big mistake.

Had Jade seen it coming, she would have probably punched the crazed woman in the jaw just for trying to get close to her. But she was too preoccupied scrubbing the filth out of her shirt to pay attention to the woman as she wrapped her arms around Jades torso consticting her arms in doing so. "Oh Maddison you're back! I thought you were gone but now you're here and we can go home to Daddy!" Her embrace was nearly suffocating it was so tight.

"Get your crazy hands off me woman!"

Jade dropped her shirt in the sink and struggled to break free of the other girl. She was strong enough to shimmy down a bit and launch her head up and back effectively smashing it into the woman's jaw. _"Not a punch, but I'll take a headbutt over nothing."_ Before she could recover, Jade snatched her shirt and threw it on over her head as she quickly left the restroom.

She got back to the waiting room and went to the receptionist behind the desk to tell him about the crazy person grabbing her in the bathroom but decided not to. She felt like somehow the situation would get turned around or drawn out to where she would possibly get kicked out of the hospital, or charged for assault and Jade really didn't feel like going through the trouble right now. Instead she asked if there was any news on her friend to which she was given nothing.

There she was sitting again waiting for someone to come out with good news for her when the familiar face of the crazy woman comes by. Her jaw had already begun to swell from the hit.

She spots the goth from across the room and rushes over. Jade's blood begins to boil again she's ready to throw a punch and gets up to take her on. The words she hears next only throws her through a loop.

"Excuse me Miss, I'm looking for my sister Maddison have you seen her?" Jade looks at her still cautious of any funny business coming her way. She says nothing, in return. "She's thirteen and is wearing a blue shirt with the words "Rainy Days" on it. If you see her can you tell her Mallory is looking for her?" And then she left heading over to another bystander repeating herself exactly as if reading from a script.

_"What the hell is going on here? Was she fucking with me just now? Why the hell is everyone losing their damn minds in here?!"_ Jade was growing more and more impatient and being surrounded by lunatics wasn't helping.

Another forty minutes passed when finally the doors had opened. A doctor walked out with a clipboard reading something quickly before looking out to the waiting room. The middle aged man calls out for everyone to hear him. "Jade West?"

"That's me!" She calls out and runs up to him. "Tell me how is she? Is Cat awake? Can I see her? I need to know how she's doing."

She spoke fast and direct and more thank likely louder than she should had. Her hands were gripping the doctor's collar demanding answers. She just needed to know her friend was okay. But he didn't answer any of her questions. In fact the only thing he did was raise one of his hands to place it atop one of hers and squeezed it gently. His eyes were downcast but they spoke volumes. Then all her questions were answered in two words."I'm sorry."


	5. Chapter 5

It's been a while since Beck moved out of his parents house and into the RV. He got it for himself as a birthday gift when he turned seventeen as a way to be more independent along with having the freedom to go on long road trips whenever he wanted. Sure, his parents got him his car to congratulate him getting his license. He loved it and their gift meant the world to him. But the RV?In his opinion it was one of the best purchases he had ever made. And once he turned eighteen he decided it was time to entirely leave the nest and move his mobile home off the property and onto an empty lot he rented. It was fun at first and still is for the most part, especially back when he and Jade were still dating. It was a lot better knowing his parents wouldn't come knocking on the door, or even worse, inviting themselves in while they were getting intimate. That luckily never happened but the possibility was always there.

At the moment Beck was kicking back on his sofa watching TV. He had been watching a rerun of Drake and Josh. When it was over, a new episode of The Wood came on and as much as he enjoyed his share of reality TV, the show remained one of his most hated to have ever been aired. So he flipped through the channels looking for something interesting to pop up. So far it was nothing but old drama and distasteful cartoons, but when he got to the news he read the banner across the bottom of the screen and something caught his attention. It read: **New Disease Spotted Across The Nation**

At first he thought it was another case of the swine flu or something similar. But then the news reporter read off something that hooked him to the broadcast.

"The disease is still unknown as of right now. Scientists claim to believe it may be a fungal infection or possibly a virus that affects the nervous system. Some of the known symptoms may include feeling lightheaded, dizzy, nausea, and vomiting. Some people have even reported family and friends to appear delusional."

The reporter continued on to cover a few stories from the public and their personal experiences with the infected people. Beck was zoned in on the television. He listened to the stories of the public while thinking of his friends who were acting strange themselves the past couple days. Then he remembered how just earlier that day he was at Robbie's house. _"Holy shit."_

There was a banging on the door and before he could ask who it was Jade stormed in.

"Jade do you see this?" He didn't look up as his eyes were still glued to the news. "Jade?"

He turned his attention to his ex and saw her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying. Her makeup was smeared from her eyes and ran all the way down her cheeks. Then he saw her shirt. It wasn't as bad as it originally was when the blood was still freshly coating it but the stain was still left over and it didn't go unnoticed. He shot up off the couch and rushed over grabbing her arms to inspect her for any wounds but she threw herself into his body and squeezed with the little strength she had left in her and cried into his chest.

After bawling her eyes out for who knows how long she told him everything that happened. From the time she got to Cat's apartment, to finding her in the bathroom, and even about the crazy woman at the hospital. Beck was speechless as he listened to her go on. All he could do was hold himself together and try to do the same for Jade. She put it off as long as possible, if only for her own sanity, but eventually she broke the news to him. "Cats gone Beck. She's fucking dead and I couldn't save her."

Back at Tori's house, dinner had just ended. Her mother was washing the dishes, Trina was talking about some date she was going on soon, Tori was trying to keep herself from making sarcastic remarks at her sister, and her father was watching the news. The same broadcast Beck had just been tuned into.

"Then we're going to the new restaurant down the street from Nozu's to get dessert. They have only the highest of delicacies for the highest status people in town." Trina ended her rant about her big date plans. She was so excited and couldn't wait to be pampered as she thought she should be.

Her sister however was bored out of her mind after sitting through yet another play through of Trina's night. "If they're only for the highest of the high, then how are you getting any?"

"I happen to be going out with a famous musician, thank you very much!" The older sister turned her head up and away as she crossed her arms with a huff.

"Trina. This guy plays out of his parents garage."

"That's only cause the record companies haven't returned his emails yet."

Tori shakes her head leaving her sister at the table. "At least you found someone on your level finally." She plops herself down on the couch next to her father.

Sadly, Trina didn't catch the point her sister was making. She proudly rose her head up again and said, "I know, I'm so excited!"

David turned around to his oldest daughter and shattered her dreams, as any good father would do. "You're not going out tonight." He had his dad voice on. The kind of voice that was used when laying down the law of the house.

"Whaaaat?!"

He got up off the couch and walked over to his wife in the kitchen. "The news says there's some kind of disease going around and I dont want you getting sick." He wraps an arm around Holly's waist and speaks to both his children. "Why don't you girls help your mother put the dishes away for once?" He earned himself a kiss on the cheek for that one.

Ignoring his request, Trina stomps her foot on the ground. "But Dad! I need to secure my one true love! Brett and I were obviously made for each other!"

"Well you two can be made for each other another day sweetie. Tonight you're grounded."

"Grounded? How could you do this to me!?" She storms off and up to her room, slamming the door shut behind her so everyone could hear.

Tori had shrunk down in her place on the couch hoping to disappear. Just when she thought she did it, her mother called her out. "Tori we can still see you."

She groaned and slid the rest of the way off the couch and practically dragged herself to the kitchen. "I thought it would have worked this time." Against her will, she put the dishes away one by one.

"Almost, but not really." Her mother pat her on the back before retiring into her bedroom with her husband.

"I hate being the good child..."

Upstairs in her room, Trina was texting Brett the bad news.

**Trina: Hey baby! So I have a slight problem...**

**Brett: Hey there pretty ;) what's up?**

**Trina: My lame ass dad says I'm "grounded" now cuz some losers are getting sick.**

**Brett: Awe man...I was really looking forward to our date. I got my guitar polished off and everything :(**

Then she got a brilliant idea. She typed away at her phone with a grin plastered to her face.

**Trina: I'm gonna sneak out! Pick me up at Center and Main in 10! Xoxo**

**Brett: You got it! :D**

Trina hopped off her bed and went to her door, quietly opening it enough to peak her head out to listen. All she heard was a bit of dishes clanking together as her sister put them away by herself. Now was as good a time as ever. She shut the door without making a sound and locked it. Going over to her window, she slid it up slowly and shimmied her way out and onto the roof of their garage. From there to the driveway was a bit of a drop but if she lowered herself down carefully, she'd only have to drop a couple of feet to the ground. With a nervous breath, she knelt down by the edge getting a good grip on the ledge and dropped her feet in front of it. Unfortunately once her abdomen was leveled with the roof her arms gave out and she dropped down. Her only saving grace was that her grip held on giving her a tiny break in the quick descend before letting go and falling the rest of the way. Feet smacked against the pavement, followed by her butt and then her back. She layed there for a minute letting the shame wash over her.

"I'm so glad no one saw that."

A vibration was felt from inside the purse laying next to her head. She reached for it fiddling around inside the tiny bag for her phone. A new message popped up as it was unlocked.

**Brett: Almost there my sweet ***

Trina checked the time, she only had another four minutes to get to the intersection. She picked herself up and ran all the way there.

The sun rose the next morning shining through Trina's window. The rays came across her bed and after some time fell upon the resting girl's eyes waking her from her slumber. Normally she would be disappointed at having to interrupt her beauty sleep to get up, but today she was in a great mood. The previous night had been so wonderful, there couldn't be anything that could ruin her mood right now. She happily rolled over in her bed and glanced at the clock. It read: 9:32 AM.

Up until now, The Beachboys Wouldn't it be Nice was playing in her head. However seeing as she was late to school, now all she could here was crashing cars sirens and a large hairy man screaming from inside her brain.

Never before in her life had she jumped out of bed so fast and threw on the first thing she had hanging in her closet before dashing into the bathroom to get ready. School already started and for some reason no one cared to wake her up in time. Trina didn't have nearly enough time to even brush her hair so it was tossed back and up into one of the sloppiest of buns. Only after she almost fell down half the flight of stairs did she hear her stuffy nosed sister from in front of the television.

"School's canceled."

A part of the drama queen wanted to scream out her frustration but given she could stay home and lounge over sitting it class, it could have been worse.

Tori was watching the news again with her father. Well, she was playing on her phone while her father watched the news. Running away from zombies was much more entertaining to her than listening to today's events. Holly was in the kitchen almost done cooking up some breakfast for the family.

Trina decided she needed something in her stomach before she got any crankier after her rocky start. "Morning Mom." Her mother eyed her up and decided to tease her daughter a bit.

"Good morning sweetie, love what you've done with your hair." Trina just faked a laugh and pulled out the gallon of milk from the fridge and took a couple gulps straight out of the container. "Trina that's disgusting! You weren't raised in a barn young lady." She snatched the jug away from her daughter and placed it down on the counter.

"What's the problem? We're all family, we got the same germs and whatever." Trina shrugged and started walking away again until her mother stopped her.

"Hang on a second," Holly plated up two servings of scrambled eggs and toast and a bowl of grits. She then poured two glasses of orange juice and set them down for Trina to take. "The eggs are for you and Dad, Tori gets the grits." She grabs the glasses of juice and walks over with her eldest child to serve breakfast in the living room.

Trina places one of the plates of eggs in front of her father and the goopy grain mixture in front of her sister and sits beside her. Tori says a quick thank you and looks up from her phone after completing another level in her game. Grits. "Mom please dont make me eat this chiz anymore! It's been three days of oatmeal, grits and crackers. I need real food!"

Back in the kitchen again to get her and Trina beverages, she replies. "Sorry honey, you couldn't stomach the oatmeal so you're on a strictly boring foods diet until you're better." She pours two glasses of milk and brings one to Trina, recieving a thank you from her, and sitting beside her husband to enjoy breakfast.

Tori grabs her spoon and mushes around the goop in front of her. She only had a stuffy nose and her fever was almost completely gone at 98.8 and this boring foods diet was going to be the end of her if she had to keep it up any longer after today. She pouted at her mother across the sofa and watched her tilt her head back drinking her milk.

The four of them took part in some some small conversation over breakfast and almost as if it were planned, David's radio went off just as he took his last bite. He was required to have it on him at all times just in case there was an emergency he needed to report to immediately. He grabbed his walkie talkie from his waist band answering the call.

He got up off the couch to go get ready. "The whole station is being called in for duty. Apparently riots are breaking out downtown and they need all the hands they can get to go take control of the situation."

Holly starts to gather the dishes and puts them in the sink to deal with later. David walks back into the living room, now in full uniform. "I'm not sure how long I'll be out for but hopefully we'll take control of the situation by dinner time." His wife had always been supportive of him and his job knowing very well he had a responsibility to his duty and the city. But as supportive as she was, it wouldn't cover the fact that she worried for him any time he was called in to manage any kind of riot or ruckus. Even something as little as confronting kids tagging the streets with graffiti. She wished her man good luck with a kiss and let him go on his way.

Holly was never really happy to watch him leave unexpectedly and often times found herself keeping busy to distract her until he returned home. And there were some dishes that needed washing, so she took it upon herself to take care of them.

The two sisters were still on the couch playing and texting on their phones. Tori went back to her game and Trina was more than excited to text her new boyfriend. She sent him a few good morning texts along with some kissy faces, but sadly nothing was sent back in return. She figured Brett was still sleeping or maybe even writing up a new song for her. He completely won over her heart last night, not that it was too difficult to win over the desperate teen, and he was all she could think about. Not being able to hold it back anymore, she decided to let her sister in on her secret escapade.

"Psst...hey Tori." Without looking up from her phone, Tori let out a hum. "Wanna know a secret?" Trina was whispering, a little too loud due to her excitement but their mom was in the kitchen with the faucet on so she wouldn't be aware of anything for now.

Tori begrudgingly stopped her game and looked at her sister unenthusiastically. "Yeah sure. Did you finally get that hangnail from a week ago?"

"No...well yes I got it out yesterday. But even better than that, I snuck out last night."

"You what?!"

"Shhh!" They looked over to the kitchen, their mother was still focused on the dishes. "You can't tell Mom and Dad! You have to promise." She held out her pinkie waiting for her sister to meet her halfway. She sighed and linked their fingers together giving in.

"Fine. But you owe me..." She thought of what she could use as a bargain to keep this secret safe from their parents. Then she got it. "I demand Starbucks everyday after school next week. Your treat."

"What? No way, you know I can't stand that barista."

"Fine. Mom!"

"Okay fine, fine! I'll do it!"

Holly turns off the water and yells back without leaving the sink. "Yeah?"

Tori grins at her sister pleased with her bribery skills. "I wanted to tell you, the grits made me feel a lot better."

"Oh good, mother knows best after all." She turns the water back on to resume the dishes.

With the crisis now avoided, the secret was continued. "So anyway, I just had to go see Brett cause not even super cop Dad was gonna stop our love." Trina placed both of her hands on her chest romantically. "It was so wonderful Tori. He took me to that restaurant I told you about and we shared tiramisu, then he walked me through downtown and saved me from this homeless man asking where his child was and-"

"Wait. You guys didn't help him find his kid?" She looked at her star crossed sister in disbelief.

"Of course not! He was obviously deranged. He pulled out a picture of his dog and called it Peanut."

"I would've helped him find Peanut..."

"Yeah well you can go on a date with that loser and find his dog child then. But this isn't about you dork. Now then...oh right! So then Brett took me down to this pier and played me a beautiful song he wrote and sang to me and it was just so romantic. Then we bonded in the most intimate way ever..." Trina's eyes looked far off as she reminisced about what happened after. Tori however looked appalled at her.

In the best hushed voice she could manage at that moment she quietly yelled, "You slept with him on your first date?!"

Her mouth was quickly smothered by the other girls hands. "Shhh!" They looked to the kitchen again followed by no response. "No stupid, I'm not a slut. We just kissed passionately...until someone found us and threatened to call the cops. Apparently it was a private dock..."

Tori just looked at her wondering how the hell she hasn't caught anything by the way she just throws herself at boys sometimes.

It was around noon when Jade woke up in her ex boyfriend's arms. After telling him what happened yesterday she spent the rest of the night crying until there were simply no more tears left in her. She fell asleep in the bit of comfort he provided her and luckily for her, her mind was too exhausted to bother her with nightmares to wake her up throughout the night. Beck on the other hand couldn't sleep at all. Everything Jade had told him was running through his mind all night. Every little detail he picked up was flashing behind his eyelids anytime he had tried to get even the smallest wink of sleep. It was all just so much to take in and he wasn't even there for any of it. And just the thought Cat not being there anymore...he couldn't handle it. Long after Jade had fallen asleep, he too shed his share of tears for their lost friend.

Neither one of them said anything to each other, even after they had mustered up the strength to get out of bed. Jade still had some clothes stuffed away in the RV from the many nights she spent there when they were together, so she grabbed a new shirt, a pair of pants and undergarments and went to his small bathroom to take a shower. She fell asleep in her dirty clothes and fixing herself up a bit would do her some good.

She shed her used clothes, threw them in the trash, and settled on a cold shower to shock her senses. Maybe the cold would numb her deep down inside so she wouldn't have to feel anymore. Of course it didn't happen that way but she did feel refreshed on the outside at the very least. There weren't any hair products she would use there and she had to borrow some of Beck's deodorant. It wasn't her choice of scents but at least she didn't smell of blood and sweat anymore. As for make up, the thought hadn't even crossed her mind considering she didn't want to look pretty today anyway. She looked just fine without it still.

Beck was waiting patiently for her to finish up before taking some of his clothes into the bathroom to do the same. Normally he would just change once he was out of the bathroom but he felt that changing in front of his ex was a bit inappropriate even if they had seen everything they could have already.

Before he was even in the bathroom Jade walked out of the RV to go to her car and grab her pack of cigarettes. She sat herself down on the steps of the mobile home and lit one up taking an eager hit off of it. Now she wasn't one to go stress smoking but given she had one hell of an experience the day before, she felt she deserved to give it a try. The dull pain she felt in her chest was still there but her head felt a little lighter making her feel a bit at ease. Before she knew it Beck was done showering and opened the door behind her. He looked down at the ground and saw three burnt out butts in front of him and another one on the way. He walked off his trailer and reached down to grab the half empty carton to prevent her from smoking anymore for now, knowing she would keep going until she felt ill. She didn't even argue as she took a couple puffs before tossing the used filter.

"We should go check on everyone." Beck spoke for the first time since Jade came barging in his home.

She said nothing in return, only giving a slight nod before getting up and slowly going to her car and unlocking it for the both of them to get in. They buckled their seatbelts and Jade backed her car out of his path of a driveway, then left the trailer park.

There wasn't a clear destination yet but she found herself unintentionally steering the car towards a certain brunettes house. Meanwhile, Beck tried calling Robbie. The phone rang a couple times then went to voice mail. He tried again with the same results. Concern was starting to fill his mind with all the kinds of possibilities the boy could have gotten himself into with the state of mind he last witnessed him in. He tried again two more times with no success.

"Try Andre." Jade finally spoke for the first time that day.

With a nod of his head, Beck found his number and hit call. On the first ring it was answered.

"Yo what's up? Have you seen the news?"

Beck swallowed the lump in his throat he didn't realise was there. "Yeah. Look man we gotta talk about something. But first, are you okay?" The uneasy emotions in his voice passed through the phone and wasn't missed by his friend.

"Yeah I'm good...are you good?" There was a long pause where no one said anything. "Beck? Hello?"

Everyone knew how Andre felt about Cat. Beck didn't want to be the one to tell him what happened to her. Hell, he wasn't sure if he could even handle relaying the story back to him. He looked to Jade who already had tears threatening to spill down her cheeks again. There was no way around it.

"Andre...Cat is...she's gone man." There was another silence hanging over the call. Beck knew his friend was still there from the lack of a click ending the call.

"What like she just...left? What do you mean she's gone?"

"I mean...look I don't know how to, I'm still caught up on it too and it's just that..." he hesitated to break the news. It was better he knew sooner than later. "...Cats no longer with us. She died last night."

Anger rose out the other man's voice, clearly not having this conversation. "Dude now is not the time to practice your stupid roles, there are people out the-"

"I'm serious Andre." The actor's voice cracked as the realization hit him again as it did last night. He felt his eyes start fill up with tears once more. "I think she caught whatever this shit is that's going around. I don't know how she got it, but she lost a lot of blood and the hospital couldn't-" the call ended.

Andre hung up the phone on him. Beck felt the wet spots under his eyes and wiped them away sniffing back the rest that threatened to fall. Jade had to stop the car to calm herself down before going on. It wasn't uncontrollable like it was last night but she couldn't see with her vision being obstructed with tears. Only a few minutes later they got back on the road.

They were almost at Tori's house but had to cut through downtown to get there. As they got closer to the town center, traffic began to pick up and get more congested.

Pretty soon they weren't moving and the goth began to get impatient as she blasted her car horn for everyone to suffer with her. Immediately afterwards, a man slammed himself against the side of her car looking right at her with his face pressed up against the window. She jumped from the sudden impact and almost got out if her car to beat the living shit out of him. Beck put his arm in front of her to keep her seated and pointed to the stranger's face. "Jade don't! Look." They watched as he looked around the car with wide open eyes. It was as if there was a bug flying around the vehicle and he couldn't tear his line of sight away from the thing. It was just like Cat with her butterflies.

Beck tried something even he thought was crazy. He cracked his window a couple of inches and started wafting his hand around as if guiding the "fly" out of the car. The craziest part of this was that it actually worked and the man jumped on top of the hood of the car and ran across to the other side to chase after the invisible pest. Jade couldn't believe that actually worked. And to be honest neither could Beck.

They had sat there in traffic for over ten minutes watching as a few other crazy people went up and down the streets and in between other cars either yelling at no one, about no one, or chasing imaginary things. The whole time there, they only managed to move a couple feet.

Jade couldn't take it anymore and steered her car up and onto the sidewalk. Beck yelled at her to stop and pull over but he knew she was going to do as she pleased. Almost hitting a few people and avoiding some lamp posts, she got in front of the line of cars and saw what was causing such a massive road block. There were cars wrecked right in the middle of the one way blocking anything from passing. Well anything from passing via the road. Two cars were completely destroyed, they looked as if they had collided with each other smashing the front ends and flipping several times over. The one out of the two even caught on fire and was still being put out by the fire company. After that were a couple more vehicles littering the streets ahead in pretty bad shape from their own accidents, including a motorcycle shredded to pieces along the road and an eighteen wheeler on its side with the cargo portion of it crunched up and twisted like an empty can of sode. All of this while both crazed and (possibly) normal minded people roamed the town raiding shops for anything they can loot and starting fights just for the hell of it.

Once Jade could get her car back on the main road she booked it out of there wishing to get as far away as possible from the destruction and chaos she had to maneuver through. They got to their friend's house only minutes later and ran to the front door. Jade pounded on the door frantically needing to get inside. Tori answered the door coming face to face with her frenemy. She was pushed out of the way as Jade ran up the stairs and slammed Tori's bedroom door behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

Tori opened the door to her room spotting Jade curled up with her head in her lap leaning against the wall just beside the door frame.

"Jade?''

"What do you want Vega?" She snapped back aggressively, her head still down as she spoke.

The girl in question now stood in front of the other. "Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing." She waited for another snap back from her that never came. She knelt down in front of her softening her tone. "What happened to you?"

Jade lifted her head making eye contact with the Latina. Tori now saw that her friends eyes were glossy and fragile. She wanted to know what could have possibly happened to make the girl who was normally hard to the core look so vulnerable.

Beck was downstairs still with her mother and Trina, probably explaining his side of the story to them by now. The two of them showed up out of no where and when Jade stormed in and up to Tori's bedroom it was obvious she didn't want a crowd. But if that was the case, why not stay with Beck at his place? Or better yet her own house. Too curious for her own good, she went to pry again growing impatient for answers.

"Jade I want to know what the hell happened to you. You can't just go barging into my house and into my room without some kind of explanation."

This apparently triggered a reaction, but not one she ever expected to hear. "This is all your fault isn't it?" Jade narrowed her icy blue eyes now filling up with hatred and anger. Her mind began filling in blanks with her own solution to the problems she'd been faced. "You're the one who got Cat sick. Didn't you?" She rose to her feet, Tori following her. "You passed this fucking disease onto her and that's why she lost her goddamn mind!" She slowly walked towards the other girl making her back up until she felt the back of her knees against her bed. "She put herself in that damned hospital and died there because of you! This is all your fault!" Tori fell back onto her bed as Jade kept on shouting at her.

She felt defenseless against the raging woman in front of her but Tori couldn't move. She was sure Jade was going to pound her face in by the daggers her eyes were throwing down at her. And that might've been what happened if it weren't for Beck and Trina running upstairs to stop her.

Trina jumped in front of her sister ready to defend her if need be. "Tori didn't do anything, you leave her alone or get the hell out of my house!" She stood her ground not entirely sure of what was going to go down.

"You don't know anything you stupid bitch!" Jade swung her arm back about to throw a punch.

Just then Beck grabbed hold of Jade pulling her back as she kept trying to break free from him. "Let go of me! This is all because of her! Cat's gone and the world is falling to shit and it's all her fault!"

She struggled against him with all her might, and it was to attack the girl now pulling her sister out of the room, but even still she managed to tucker herself out rather quickly. She was still angry but her body was too tired to go on for more than minute. Even with the adrenaline rush.

When he thought she had calmed down enough, he loosened his grip on her to be able to turn her to face him. "Listen to yourself. You're just angry and hurt, you're not thinking clearly Jade. You know this has nothing to do with Tori." He saw the familiar hurt expression resurface once again. "And you know you did everything you could to save her." She stopped fighting all together now and the only thing showing on her face was guilt. He let her go finally.

"It wasn't enough." Her words were quiet but the two girls standing out in the hallway heard them loud and clear.

They thought maybe it was best to leave the two alone for a minute to let everything settle. Beck was in there and it seemed like he knew how to calm her down, or at least restrain her until she burnt herself out. Their mother was at the bottom of the stairs worried for the four teenagers. She heard everything but couldn't bring herself to react to any of it.

When the ex couple came to the house, the three residents had no clue as to what was happening. Jade booked it upstairs, followed by Tori. Trina began interrogating Beck which she had only gotten one question out before he went to explain a brief summary of the road trip over there. But before he could get to Cat, which he was intentionally putting off, the ruckus upstairs had begun.

Meanwhile, Holly was left alone in the foyer thinking of the new information she heard about downtown. The same downtown where her husband was supposed to be stationed at. She thought of everything that could possibly go wrong letting her fears get the best of her. She only snapped out of her daze when she heard her daughters come down the stairs without the other two teens.

"What's going on up there?" She asked both her girls.

Trina wasn't afraid to share first. "That witch just tried to attack Tori."

"She didn't attack me, she was only yelling."

"Tori she was towering over you! Then went to take a swing at me!"

"She was just scared Trina!"

"I was scared you idiot!"

Holly stepped in between the two girls stopping them from continuing. "Stop! Are you both okay?" She looked at the both of them getting a solid confirmation from each girl. "Okay. Now listen." They waited quietly for a moment, not hearing anything. "It seems to me everything is settling down. Can you two wait it out nicely until your friends come down?"

Trina was about to claim the two upstairs were not her friends but bit her tongue and stomped her way over to the couch. Tori just looked back up the stairs worried about her friends before joining her sister. Once they sat down, Holly took a deep breath to calm herself down as well and took a seat at the dining room table waiting for the last two people in the house to join them.

It had taken a while but maybe twenty minutes later they finally came downstairs. Jade followed behind Beck and they just kind of stood at the bottom of the steps unsure of how to proceed. From the living room, there was Tori looking at them with concern and Trina keeping a sharp eye on one person in particular.

Jade was only looking to the ground and to everyone's surprise walked over to the two girls she nearly unleashed all her anger onto. She stopped just a few feet in front of them, her gaze still towards her feet. "That was uncalled for. Sorry. It's been one hell of a couple days and it all came out." She raised her eyes up and over to the girls mother across the room receiving a kind smile. She then turned her attention to Tori. "And just so we're clear, I wasn't gonna hit you." She never looked at Trina, which the older sister took notice of knowing very well she would have taken a few hits if Beck hadn't intervened.

Tori sent a small smile of her own accepting the apology just as her mother had. Now that everything was (kind of) sorted out, Holly announced she was going to make a batch of tea for everyone. It would be good for them along with easing the tension lingering among them.

Jade and Beck sat beside each other on the opposing sofa from the sisters. No one said anything which only served to thicken the air around them. Wanting to break the silence, Tori turned the TV on. It was still set to the news since her father was the last one to use it this morning.

It was focused around the disease spreading rapidly in less than a week. The four teenagers listened in silence as a woman was shown on the screen talking about the newest research on the matter.

"With the rapid incline of the infected population, scientists have had more patients to run tests on for more accurate research. Now over to Dr. Stewbin with the latest discoveries on this mysterious disease." The scene changes from the news room to a lab where a man in his late fifties begins to talk.

"Thank you. As it seems, this disease is not caused by an infection or even a virus. No what we're dealing with right now is a parasite on a microscopic level. Completely invisible to the human eye in fact. These organisms have the ability to mass multiply through asexual reproduction and cling onto the mucus membranes along the digestive tract to survive meaning they can be passed by any form of ingestion or through bodily discharge. Whether it be through sharing food, sharing a kiss with family and loved ones, or by coming in contact with urine or feces. It seems they emit some kind of toxin similar to a hallucinogen into the bloodstream as they eat away at the host. It is still unknown as to where these parasites originated from, but our research is hinting at genetically engineered foods or even pesticides." The scene changes back to the news room with the same reporter who broadcasted the story.

Holly breaks everyone from the TV as she enters the room with a tray carrying several cups, a small bowl of sugar along with a bit of milk, and of course a tea pot. She sets it down and offers it to anyone who would like some. Beck politely declines, Trina takes hers with milk and sugar, Tori asks for the same but is denied the milk due to her boring foods diet, and Jade takes a cup of plain old tea.

The older woman gathers the remaining tea and dishes to return them to the kitchen but suddenly collapses sending shards of ceramic and left over beverage splattering around her.

"Mom!" Tori gets up to rush over to her moms aid. Jade watches this all play out and steps up quickly to block her with her arms out.

"Tori don't!"

"What's your problem? Let me help her." She tries to push past her but Jade proves to be the stronger one.

"Listen to me, your mom might be sick."

"Are you crazy?" Tori feels a hand on her shoulder and sees Beck with a serious look on.

"I know how it sounds, but you haven't seen how it goes down Tor. Cat and Robbie..." He remembers his missing friend making a mental note to try him again later.

"It's okay honey, listen to your friends." Tori watches her mother from across the room get up covered in tea. "I'm sure I'm fine. But just in case, we don't need you getting sick again right after you've gotten over your fever." She cracks a joke trying to lighten the mood.

Trina at this point is fed up with this whole disease nonsense and hops over the back of the couch. "Will you guys get a grip already? It's just some spilled tea, not the end of the world." She helps her mom pick up the broken pieces from the ground. "Mom, go lay down or something. I got this."

Her mother takes the kind offer and decides to go lay down for a while after she changes into fresh laundry. Tori watches her mom disappear into her room with sad eyes before taking her seat on the couch again, now sulking quietly. Her friends take their seats as well and watched the broadcast still airing, turning the volume up a bit so they could hear it better.

With everyone back to their own distractions, no one noticed Trina stumble as she rose up from the mess and run to the kitchen sink where she spit up a bit of vomit. She could hear the television from the other room.

"Watch out for anyone who may be experiencing disorientation, nausea, vomiting, or paranoia."

Trina grabbed a wad of paper towels from the roll on the counter to wipe up the spilled milk and tea.

"Multiple reports found traces of blood in the infected person's vomit and stools. If this is the case please use the highest precautionary actions to ensure the condition does not spread."

After throwing away the picked up trash and waste in the garbage, she went to wash out the sink. She looked down to the sink and saw a splash of dark red from inside the puke_. "Oh fuck me."_


	7. Chapter 7

Jade, Beck, and Tori all sat in front of the TV watching the news. Or at least it seemed that way.

Jade was trying to follow along to everything the reporter was saying, but it all sounded like the same things being told in different words. Maybe she was still stuck on wrapping her brain around the fact that the end of the world was actually happening. Or maybe it was just as she heard it. It was after all a possibility that no one really knew what was happening and the only way to keep the public from being driven into panic was to act like someone had their shit together.

Beck was paying attention at first but felt the fatigue on his body creep it's way up to his eyes. He fought to stay awake but slowly drifted off to sleep after a while.

Tori on the other hand was looking at the screen with nothing more than a blank stare, too caught up in her own thoughts. Just that morning the everything was fine. Trina was up to her normal shenanigans, her mom made the family breakfast as always, and her father was called in to work on his day off which was something that wasn't unusual considering he was always on call. Then out of no where Jade is freaking out banging on her door and now her friends don't trust her own mother claiming she might be dangerous. It all happened so fast and out of the blue, she just couldn't keep up.

The channel changed a few times bringing Tori out of her thoughts. The other girl in the room flipping from station to station looking for something new to put on but all the normal channels were replaced with a different emergency broadcast announcement. Each news anchor talked about the epidemic in their own way telling the viewers about the symptoms or the newest information on the parasite. One channel in particular caught her attention as it flashed on the screen for a split second before changing to a different one.

"Wait put that back on, the one just before this."

The channel was switched back and it was a livestream from a helicopter hovering over downtown. People were gathered around several stores and restaurants breaking the doors down to pillage through the buildings and loot anything they wanted. Cars were scattered around either flipped over and onto their sides or even burned up in some cases. The helicopter rotated to get a better shot at the wall of law enforcers holding up shields wielding batons at the ready.

Tori looked for her father remembering he said something about being stationed downtown. She had no idea if he was going to be face to face with the riots or if he was some kind of back up or just to be a director of some sort, so she was basically searching blind right now.

She never spotted him before the frame was changed again to get a shot of someone running with a burning bottle in their hand and launching it into a car. It appeared to be empty but was soon engulfed in flames once the bottle shattered against the dashboard.

Jade looked over to the girl once she heard her breathing get heavy. Her eyes were fixed to the television moving back and forth slightly to pick up every detail that flashed before her. It seemed to be getting too much for her to handle so Jade snapped it off with a click of a button.

Tori watched the screen go dark and shut her eyes hoping her father would return home soon and safe. Her breathing was still a little too fast and her eyes squeezed shut a little tighter causing splotches of white to appear behind her eyelids. She picked her feet off the ground and hugged her legs close to her body with her head down, the same position as she found her friend in her room earlier. She needed to calm down. She needed to think clear again. She needed to wake up from this bad dream she was falling into.

Then she felt an unfamiliar weight beside her and before she knew it she was being held. Her brown eyes opened and found Jade pulling her cradled body into her lap to hold her. The act was so unlike anything she's recieved from the often cold blooded girl but it was surprisingly comfortable to Tori.

Jade had watched the other girl slip into a mini panic attack before her very eyes. At first it was just some heavy breathing which she chalked up to the stuffy nose, but when she saw her eyes glaze over with fear she knew it was more than that. They had watched enough news for now anyway, so she shut it off hoping it would help. But it seemed it was too late though as Tori slipped into the fetal position shaking slightly.

She didn't know what came over her, maybe it was all the times Tori had been there for her when she needed a friend. It could have been that she herself was in a similar state not too long ago. But something compelled her to go over there and bring the brunette back down to earth before she slipped away into whatever hell she was experiencing.

The funny thing is, it wasn't even weird for her to grab the other girl and pull her into the embrace. It felt natural for some reason, as strange as the scene must have looked to anyone else if they had been there to witness it. She didn't think too much on it. Putting the idea away, Jade did her best to rid her friend of any thoughts that may be crippling her

They sat there for a while with Tori being embraced by Jade. It didn't take too long for her to relax enough to release her legs from her grasp and return the hug. It was an awkward angle until she turned herself around to now be facing the other girls stomach. She closed her eyes gently now and found comfort in her friend for the first time since they've known each other.

Jade held onto Tori as she relaxed into her. A pale hand left the girls side to massage little circles onto her back. The air in the room was light again. For a moment there were no worries. And somewhere along the line, the two girls fell asleep along with their softly snoring friend nearby.

Over in the room just down the hall layed Holly on her bed. She couldn't seem to fall asleep, whether it be from the intrusive thoughts about her husband or from the nausea settling in her stomach. She was tossing and turning every so often and couldn't take the gut feeling of being sea sick. At least she had some down time to herself for a little while, but figured she might as well check on the kids to see what they got up to in her absence.

She saw Tori and her friends fast asleep in the living room taking note of the position they ended up. _"Hmm...that's cute I guess. Always thought she'd take to Beck."_ She smiled at her daughter cuddling into Jade. There was no need to wake them up just yet so she headed upstairs guessing Trina might be in her room talking to this new boy she liked.

When she got to her daughter's door she knocked first before trying to enter, but it was locked. "Trina can I come in?" There was no response. She knocked again and waited. She thought Trina had fallen asleep as well and was about to go back downstairs until she heard a shuffling and something fall from behind the door followed by silence. "Come on open up, I wanna talk to you." Getting no response again got her worried.

Holly got on her toes and felt around the top of the door frame searching for the tiny key she kept hidden above a few doors around the house. Her hand grazed the small metal stick and jimmied it around in the little hole that was centered on the handle. It unlocked.

"Honey I'm coming in."

What Holly saw was a set of curtains on the ground and the teen halfway out the window trying to escape. "Trina!"

She rushed over to her daughter grabbing around her waist and pulled to get her back into the room. Trina fought against her and held onto the frame with both hands and a leg already outside.

"Let go! I don't wanna be here!" She fought against her mother's grasp and in an attempt to launch herself out of the second floor window she let go of the frame with one of her hands. But that gave Holly the extra bit of advantage she needed to yank the girl back inside.

Trina's elbow flew back and hit the window breaking it as she fell back on top of her mother. Glass was shattered all around them on the ground they were now wrestling on. They were both getting cuts and scrapes from it but Holly was determined to hold onto her daughter for fear of her trying to jump out the window again.

"Just let me go! You don't need me with her here anyway!"

"What are you talking about? Who?"

"God damn Tori! I know you guys always loved her more so just let me go!"

"Stop it Trina, this is ridiculous!" Holly always thought the day would come when her oldest child would express her jealousy over her sister, but never in a million years did she think it would happen like this.

Trina broke free of her after pressing her weight back down into her mother causing the glass to pierce into her back through her blouse. The older woman screamed out in pain as she felt the shards get embedded into her skin.

The scream was loud enough to echo throughout the house jolting the three downstairs awake. It only took a matter of seconds for them to get upstairs and into Trina's room. What they saw was the girl trying to climb out the window once more and her mother crawling on her knees pulling back on her daughter's shirt in a desperate attempt to not lose her.

Trina grabbed a jagged piece of glass still attached to the window frame, broke it off and swung back grazing the side of Holly's neck. Blood immediately left the wound and ran down to her collar bone. Tori screamed and ran to her mom putting a hand over the wound to stop the bleeding but it just kept pouring out between her fingers. Trina got a crazier look in her eyes as she saw the golden child run to their mother's aid. She was about to pounce but Beck tackled her sending her flying into the wall and then falling to the ground.

Jade searched the room for anything to stop the woman from bleeding to death and decided on the white comforter draped over the bed. She brought it over and bunched it up over the gash in the side of Holly's neck. It was filling up with a dark shade of red rapidly knowing it would be rendered useless soon.

"Vega go get something else fast." Beck was already rummaging through the bathroom grabbing every towel he could see, but the girl didn't move. She was frozen in place watching the color drain from her mother's face. "Tori now!"

That seemed to snap her out of it enough to get on her feet and stumble to the door. What no one saw was Trina get up as well with the same shard she used on Holly still grasped in her hand tightly. It was cutting her palm open as she did so but she didn't feel the pain. She only felt anger and hatred towards her sister and ran into her full force knocking them out of thr room and into the hall.

Trina had Tori trapped underneath her, her knees pressing into the smaller girls arms and sitting on her chest keeping her grounded. Her bloody hand dropped the piece of glass, now latching onto her sisters throat and squeezed.

Beck exited the bathroom and threw the towels aside getting ready to kick Trina square in the head but she saw him coming and picked up the glass next to her and jammed it in his leg above his ankle. He was knocked off his feet and tumbled down the stairs landing at the bottom. All he could do was yell out in the pain that now coursed throughout his body and ended in the glass fragment now buried halfway into his leg.

Trina went back to strangling her own sister, clutching harder than before. The air left in Tori's lungs was trapped, unable to escape and filter in a fresh breath. She felt her esophagus close up and her head fill with blood. Her ears were ringing and she thought this was going to be the end of her for sure. That was until there was a gunshot fired sending a bullet flying through the chest of the crazed girl. The hands around Tori's throat loosened their grip and she watched as her sister fell off of her and to the side.

Never before had she ever choked on air but here she was heaving in painful gasps of it.

David leaped over Beck and ran up the stairs to Tori pulling her into his arms as she tried to regain control of her breathing. "Where's your mother?" He asked before she could stop coughing. She just pointed to the open door in front of her.

The smell of blood lingered in the house now but became overwhelming as he stepped in the room. Before him was his wife laying on the ground with a now red blanket around her neck. His face dropped and so did the tears that fell down his cheeks. He told Jade to leave them. She almost insisted on staying but changed her mind seeing the woman who was barely conscious in front of her so close to death. She left the couple alone to share their final moments together.

Hours went by. Tears were shed. And the house had never been more quiet.

After the initial attack from Trina ended, David took it upon himself to take care of the bodies seeing as they were his family and he wouldn't subject his daughter to anymore horror than she was already put through. He layed his loved ones on top of Trina's bed and put a few bed sheets over top of them as a makeshift burial. There was a long moment of silence he had for them and said a few prayers before locking the door behind him.

His night wasn't over there though. He wanted to grieve over his loss but as it turned out, there was still unfinished business to attend to.

His daughter's friend was badly injured and it needed to be taken care of soon or else infection would set in. Luckily it was a clean stab wound and the glass had been sturdy enough to not break off into smaller pieces. The removal was painful but the sterilization was agonizing for the poor boy. The first aid kit he owned was equipped with sutures and he did his best to close the gap although he knew there would remain a nasty scar after it was healed. But at least he would be okay.

Right now, the remaining occupants of the household were in the living room. The two girls were fast asleep, Jade took the one couch to lay down on and Tori took the spot beside her father. She was currently nestled into his side after crying her self to sleep. Beck however was forced into unconsciousness after having hallucinations.

Shortly after being treated for his injuries, he began to see his vision twist the room around him and panicked. He kept shouting about how he was going to end up causing another death. He was terrified of becoming another delusional victim and tried to obtain David's gun to end his unavoidable insanity. The older man rose his gun and cracked the boy over the back of his skulk knocking him out cold. He wasn't about to have another person die in front of him today.

David thought about the riots. He was trained to defend and protect people. Not fight them off like animals. But that was exactly how it seemed when he got to his squad downtown. People flooded the streets, both by the infected and sane people alike. They were rampaging as if anarchy broke loose and he wasn't sure if the authorities could actually contain this amount of insanity. And he was right to doubt it, for all the squads called in to take control of the city had to retreat. There was nothing they could do.

But even in that hopeless moment of watching civilization fall apart before his eyes, there was one thing he was sure of. The infected can't distinguish from reality and fantasy.

David was second in command at the station and his superior was leading his squad into town. The chief had attempted to free an obviously deranged woman from under a vehicle and unfortunately didn't pull her out in time before it fell on top of her sending blood to slatter on his face. It got in his eyes and mouth and even though he wiped it away with a gloved hand, it managed to get into his system.

Not too long after the incident he too began hallucinating but only his vision and coordination were distorted. His mind was still clear as day. He claimed it to be as though he was having a bad trip. Because of this David knew his daughters friend would be okay, or at least for now. He couldn't let him take his life out of fear.

So now here he was, a broken man with broken children surrounding him in a broken world. His thoughts brought him back to the bodies upstairs.

It was never an easy thing to say goodbye to the people you care about, especially when it was your family. But being forced to kill his own child and watch his wife die in his arms in only a matter of minutes...well that does something to a man.

He looked over to his daughter resting beside him. Her eyes were puffy and red from all the tears she cried not too long ago. His heart ached at the sight and it was too much for him.

Carefully getting up from the couch in order to no wake the sleeping girl, he walked over to the kitchen. The whiskey bottle was tucked away in the back of the pantry as he had stopped drinking years ago. He poured himself a glass, took a sip and winced as it burned his throat. His eyes wandered to the living room. A sigh escaped his lips. He found a pen and paper and began to write.

_"Tori,_

_I'm sorry to leave you like this. You're a good kid and you deserve so much more than to have a father desert you in the moment you need him most. But I'm afraid I can't continue on like this. You have some good friends with you here. Hold on to them and take care of each other. You're strong Tori. I know you are. Stronger than I ever could be. I love you more than anything. And I'll always be with you."_

The note was left beside his daughter where he previously sat. He placed a kiss atop her head and took one last long look at her and walked out the door. It clicked shut behind him.

Tori slowly opened her eyes as she let out a tired yawn. Her hands searched for her father beside her but he wasn't there. She sat up and looked around but he was no where to be found. The only thing next to her was a folded up piece of paper. She opened it and began to read.

Just then a shot was fired outside. She didn't even flinch, but her friends jumped awake from the sound. They were frantically asking what happened but she couldn't hear them. She couldn't hear anything. She couldn't feel the warm tears running down her face as they splashed against the paper. Her heart sank so deep she stopped feeling anything at all. She was empty now. And she was alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Pale blue eyes shot open focusing in on darkness. There was a dim light creeping behind the closed curtains across the room meaning it was almost morning. There were a few still bodies littering both the floor and furniture around.

Jade sat up from the cushioned arm chair she draped herself across hours ago. The chilly night air brought attention to the cold sweat coating her skin. She had another nightmare. In fact it was the same one that has been haunting her the past couple of nights.

She quietly navigated through the maze of her living room to go to the bathroom. The lights flickered on and she took a good look at herself. Now morning was never really her cup of Joe, but since the reoccurring nightmares began, she saved a special space in her list of things she hates just for waking up early. Small bags formed under her eyes from the decreasing amount of rest and increasing load of stress. And make up was still pushed to the side since the day she went to Becks place to stay the night. There were more important things to take care of than looking good for people.

It had been a week since her and her friends left the Vega house. After the final shot was fired, no one knew what to do. Tori was stuck in a catatonic state of depression and could barely escape her own mind. Beck made an attempt to investigate but couldn't even make it off the couch with the fresh wound that barely had any time to begin healing. As for Jade, she didn't have the intention of finding another dead family member of her friend.

They never went back to sleep that night. No one spoke a word or even looked at one another. The night was washing over them and settling as the sun came up and still, the will to move was painfully low. It was decided for the best to abandon the house and move locations.

As it seemed she was the only one capable of doing anything on her own at the moment, Jade took over and stuffed a backpack full of Tori's things from the girl's room to take with them. Just a few random pieces of clothing and toiletries she saw laying around.

When it came time for them to leave she went outside to put the bag in her car before helping Beck outside with or without the help of Tori. The only problem was upon opening the front door she saw the family's car up the driveway. She closed the door behind herself and stood on the front porch for a moment and took a deep breath before slowly walking to the silver sedan.

There was a dark splatter across the front windshield and passenger window. Around to the driver's side didn't look too bad though. Peering through the window it looked like the man was just sitting there. She knew better than that of course but it helped to see his head was still intact and not just blown off his shoulders as she had suspected. It was strange, like at any moment he would start moving and turn to her in the worlds most over done jump scare.

Jade would have left the car alone and got on with the departure if it hadn't been for the gun laying in the dead man's lap. Opening the car and coming face to face with a decomposing corpse was not something she wanted to do. But it was probably the best option of self defense she could come across for who knows how long. In the world they lived in now, they needed it.

A delicate hand reached under the door handle and pulled unlatching the lock. She opened the door a bit letting the smell of old blood and brains waft out of the vehicle. Her arm flew up to her face in a half assed attempt to block the stench without success. She quickly reached for the gun and slammed the door shut.

She tucked it away in the hidden pocket of her jacket for now and hoped the two inside wouldn't notice the bulge on her side.

After tossing the backpack into her car she went back inside to get Beck. It took some convincing to get Tori to do anything but they managed to help him off the couch and out the door. Luckily, supporting their friend was such a demanding task for the girls that Tori didn't notice the blood splattered inside the car as they walked past it. Either that or she was ignoring it for her own sake. Jade went back inside doing a quick scan of anything they might have left behind before hopping in the driver's seat and taking them to her house.

Beck got in contact with Andre and told him to come over so they can all be together. Stronger in numbers right? Plus it was better knowing another one of their friends was safe and well.

So now they had their little group. It was just Jade, Beck, Tori, Andre, and his grandmother. It was a little crowded in the two bedroom house but it felt nice having people around these days.

Jade's father was never home due to work and even when he was off the clock he took himself out for a little vacation to a hotel or resort instead of coming home to his daughter. That's just the way it's been for years. He paid the bills and put money in Jade's bank account so she could do as she pleases with it. Other than that it was as if he didn't exist. Even with the world ending, he never once called or texted her to see if she was still alive. Maybe he was already gone. It didn't even matter to her anymore at this point.

Jade washed her face with cold water then left the bathroom to go to her room. It was different from the rest of the house, with dark gray walls and maroon colored sheets on her bed matching the carpet underneath it all. The dresser and desks were black and it was a pretty good reflection of what most people would assume the girl would go home to.

The first night they spent at the house, she slept in her own bed away from everyone, or at least she tried to. She never admitted it out loud but she didn't want to be alone after losing so many people around her. It was scary all by herself, even with her friends just down the hall. So for every night after that, they all slept in the living room together in their now claimed spots throughout the room.

She changed her clothes and went to the kitchen to see what was left to eat. There wasn't much to begin with considering it was just her plus she ordered out most of the time. But now with five people crammed together the food quickly diminished and there was no more than a bowls worth of cereal and loose ingredients such as flour, sugar, and spices.

It seemed the dreaded day to go out and venture into the unknown was upon them and Jade had a funny feeling she was going to have to volunteer to do it.

It was only a matter of minutes later before Andre woke up with a big stretch and a yawn. She waved him over quietly to not wake up the others around him.

He ended up sleeping on the floor with his grandma next to him. Jade offered her father's bedroom to the old woman but she refused to leave her grandson and Andre wanted to stay close to his friends. They compromised and moved the table in the center of the room to be pressed against the wall under the TV so they could lay out blankets for the two to sleep on.

When he felt his back was loosened up a bit he walked over to the kitchen to meet Jade. She was always up before everyone and after the third night he figured out it was because of some bad dreams.

"You didn't sleep too good again huh?"

"Nope. How about you?''

"Well my neck feels like someone stepped on it but at least I got some hours in." He rubbed the back of his neck and shoulder feeling the tight knot that formed.

Jade cut to the chase. "So we got a problem." The pantry was opened in front of her. "We're outta food."

"Already?" He searched across the shelves looking for anything left over but the only thing he found that was sort of edible was an unopened box of cornstarch. "Think we can add water and drink this stuff?"

"That's basically cement..." She leans back against the counter with her arms crossed. "I think it's time we go shopping."

"Ha, funny." His stomach growled. He remembered the last thing he ate was a sleeve of crackers the day before. "Okay I'm in. So what's the plan? Do we stick together or...?"

It wasn't like Jade hadn't been thinking of this. Eventually they would run out of food and it wouldn't hurt to gather up some other supplies while they were at it. But the question of going out as a group or sending out a couple at a time was still undecided. Both had benefits and draw backs. The two decided to wait until everyone else woke up to discuss their options and make a decision.

Once everyone was ready they talked it over giving opinions along with making a general list of things they should get. Tori on the other hand was up but hadn't said a single word the whole time. She might have been listening but just like the entire week they've been there, she kept to herself and stayed quiet.

In the end it was decided Beck couldn't go even though he was feeling significantly better, but he was still limping and couldn't run if he needed to. And the idea of setting back his recovery wasn't good to anyone. Andre offered himself up but his grandmother begged him to stay with her in the safety of Jade's home. That left Jade to be the one to scrounge up some food and supplies but she'd be damned if they thought she was going solo.

She picked up Tori's Vans and tossed them at the girl sitting in the corner. "You're coming with me. Get ready."

She went down the hall to her room to get her own shoes on and reached a hand under her mattress. She pulled out the gun she took from Tori's father. If there was a time to have some extra security, it was now. The gun was tucked away in her jacket, same as before, and she went out to the living room.

It was time. Surprisingly, the quiet girl on the floor had actually put the shoes on but remained seated in the same spot. Jade strutted up to her, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her out the door and to the car.

It was going to be a quick ride to the nearest Walmart. They had some time before they got there so Jade rolled down the window and picked up her pack of cigarettes. _"Only three left? Ugh...soon I'll have no food and no smokes"_ She lit one up anyway instead of saving it for later.

Even with the window opened, the smell travelled throughout the car and tingled her friend's nose with the dry aroma of burnt tobacco. Tori looked over to the goth and for the first time since they left her house, she spoke. "Why did you start smoking?"

Jade almost choked on her hit. She almost believed the girl had gone mute. "I like to smoke while I drive. The breeze feels nice I guess."

"No I mean, why did you start in the first place?"

"That's none of your damn business." That question was never one that Jade liked answering, so she deflected it like so many times before.

And that was the end of the conversation. Tori turned back to look outside her window without another word the rest of the drive.

_"Way to go West. She got two sentences out and you shut her up again for who knows how long."_

They drove down the empty highway and pulled off onto a ramp that lead into a small town. After a couple blocks they arrived at the Walmart and stopped the car right in front of the doors. The parking lot had a few cars in it but they were at the far ends of the lot. Suspicious, but there were a lot of straggling cars throughout the town and they hadn't seen anyone the entire drive so they assumed it was deserted by now.

The girls entered the supercenter. The only sound came from the echoes of their footsteps. The florescent lights illuminated everything and gave off the illusion of it still being an operating place of business. The only give away of anything wrong with the place was the sight of some open produce items beginning to rot.

"Remember, were only getting dry foods. So cans, bottles, packages. Only ready to eat stuff."

The news had mentioned before the possibility of pesticides being the cause of the parasites so they weren't going to trust anything fresh. It was safest to stick with factory processed foods. The irony of it all.

Skipping over the produce section, they went through the aisles picking up some boxes of breakfast bars, canned fruits and veggies, ramen noodles (since Jade's house still had power to use the electric stove tops), a case of bottled water, and some instant coffee powder upon Jade's request. They filled a cart with whatever would fit in the car and went to leave.

The girls were walking to the exit until one aisle in particular peeked Jade's interests. The frozen foods section to be exact. She steered the cart down past a couple doors until she spotted what she was looking for.

"Ooh yeah...this one's for you Vega." She opened the freezer door and pulled out a pint of ice cream."Bring back any memories?" She tossed the frozen treat to her friend who caught it. Tori looked down at it and read what flavor it was. Funky Nut Blast.

The girls eyes opened a little more reminiscing of the time all of them bought countless pints of the ice cream to win a private concert. A small smile peaked at her lips at the memory. "Thank you..."

Jade sent back a smile of her own and it sent a warm shiver down her spine. _"And here I thought she was forever a zombie."_

They grabbed some spoons from around the corner and cracked open the pint to dig in. The two leaned against their cart as they did so. Afterwards, they called the end of their trip and headed out to the car.

As they were loading their haul into the trunk, they heard footsteps come up behind them. They spun around quickly seeing two guys a short distance away from them holding rifles.

"Leave the car and you get to walk away alive." The taller one of the two speaks loud and clear.

Jade takes a step forward about ready to start throwing threats of her own but freezes when his friend lifts his rifle to point it at Tori.

She tenses up under the scope and backs into the bumper grasping onto the open trunk as she makes contact. The guy motions with his gun. "Come on do as he says. No one needs to get hurt."

Now Jade has to think, fight or flight. And had it been just her there she might have chose the second option. But Tori was with her and her friends were depending on them and she'd be damned if she was walking out of this alone. Her hand flies into her jacket and pulls out the hidden weapon aiming at the one pointing his gun at Tori.

Both of the men jump back immediately and turn their guns to point at Jade. "Woah calm down now! I mean, you're out numbered here two to one. There's still time to turn around and leave."

She shoots a warning a shot off sending the bullet flying between the two guys. The sound scared one of them making him clench his hand and firing his rifle by mistake. Jade felt a stinging punch of pain under her right eye making her fall to her knees clutching at her face.

"Oh fuck Joey you idiot! Go!" They guys run off leaving the girls.

Tori's in shock from getting jumped by the thugs and finding out Jade was carrying a gun the whole time, but when the last shot was fired sending a bullet to the girl's face she let go of the car and rushed over to her.

"Jade! Oh my God!" She feared for the worst. The fact that she was still alive was baffling enough but there was no splatter of blood followed by a limp drop to the ground. It wasn't possible.

Jade removed her hand looking at it for signs of blood. There was just a tiny droplet of red left on her palm. "What the hell?" Her eyes searched the ground for what ever kind of bullet smacked her in the face. She picked up a tiny metal ball. "A fucking bb gun?!"

"What?" Tori didn't know if she should be happy, scared, or confused but she was feeling all of it right now.

"Those assholes had bb guns! They weren't even real!" The anger rose out of her and she had half a mind to go chase them down and make them pay for even thinking of fooling her. Then she felt a pair of arms wrap around her holding on tight. Then she felt a wet drop fall to her collar.

"I thought I lost you too." Tori had her face buried in the crook of her neck as she held onto her.

Jade heard the words she spoke realizing just how little the other girl had left. How little they all had left. She hugged Tori back and they just sat there in front of Walmart wondering how badly that encounter could have gone had they been in real danger.


	9. Chapter 9

"Holy-"

"Shut it." Jade storms off to the bathroom.

Tori follows inside the house carrying some boxes to the kitchen and heads back out the door to grab more groceries from the car. Andre joins her.

"Yo, what the hell happened to Jade's face?" He picks up as many cans as he can hold then continues to stack more on top as he talks to Tori.

"We got jumped by some guys with bb guns. One of them shot her then they ran off." She kept it short and simple for him.

He asked a few more questions to get more details but she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. All she wanted to do right now was get the food in the house and go check on Jade. She knew she was okay but the entire car ride back was silent and she couldn't keep her eyes from glancing back to the bruise that was slowly forming under the girls eye.

The two managed to get everything inside quickly. Before Beck and Andre even started putting their new stock away, Tori was heading over to the bathroom.

She knocked on the door. "Piss off would ya?" The demand was ignored and she let herself in.

Jade was washing the bit of dried blood away from her cheek when Tori opened the door and shut it behind her.

"Let me see it."

Like usual, she was stubborn at first claiming she didn't need any help but ended up sitting on the closed toilet seat anyway. Tori carefully inspected the bruise before asking, "Did you put on any alchohol?"

"No I used soap, it's not that bad."

"Well you should clean it with something more than just..." She picked up the bottle of hand soap reading it. "...pomegranate mango twist?" There was a hint of almost laughter in those words.

"You got a problem with my soap Vega?" Jade crossed her arms and glared at her.

"No, I just didn't take you for the fruity type."

"You're the fruity type." It was merely a childish come back but the innuendo painted a light blush across tan cheeks.

"So what if I am? I like fruity." Trying to not show her fluster, she played it off a bit. "I figured you would be into, I don't know, lemon and ginger or something with vanilla." She browsed the cabinet looking for some kind of antiseptic to properly clean the cut.

"Well I'll have you know that I too like...fruity. And vanilla is only good in ice cream."

She did her best to not hang onto the way her friend spoke her words as she found a clear bottle of rubbing alcohol and cotton wipes. "I'm more of chocolate lover myself."

Jade watched as some of the clear liquid was poured onto the wipes and brought over to her face. "I'll be sure to tell Andre to watch out then." She couldn't help but pick on the brunette any time the opportunity presented itself.

Tori pushed some hair out from in front of Jade's eye but it kept falling, so she settled on resting her hand gently on the side of her face to prevent it from doing so again. "Pa-leeze. He's my bestfriend. Besides, if were gonna use your terms, I'll have you know I prefer "vanilla"." A playful smile tugged at her lips now. "Okay hold still."

The damp cloth made contact with the cut making it burn. "Ah fuck Vega! Just dump some acid on me too while you're at it."

"Oh stop being a baby." She ignored the protest and wiped away any deep bacteria that may have been left behind.

"...you're a baby."

They wouldn't say it out loud, but the girls missed their bickering.

Tori finished cleansing the bruised cheek bone and fished a bandaid out from the sink cabinet. She held up a few in front of her.

"Do you want purple, pink, green or hearts?"

"I don't need a stupid bandaid!"

"Come on! The procedure can't be completed without a proper bandage to protect the wound." Jade glared at her, then at the tiny colorful bandages. She couldn't believe she was doing this.

"Fine, but only to get over and done with this crap." She inspected the bandaides, her eyes holding their gaze on the hearts covered one. "Give me the...purple one."

She held her hand out for it to be handed over but the other girl was already unwrapping it and placed it over the tiny wound. The swelling was still there but the black and blue bruising was almost completely hidden behind the purple strip. Jade felt her cheeks heat up a bit from the action. But when Tori suddenly leaned in to place a kiss over top the bandaid, she knew her entire face was bright red. And once Tori saw the blush she realized what she just did, sending a rush of blood to her own face as well.

_"Why did I do that?! She's going to kill me! Of all the shit that's happened, this is how I'm gonna go!"_

She waited for the outburst of rage but it never came. Jade instead cleared her throat and ran a hand through her hair playing the nonchalant look pretty well aside from the bright pink glow she couldn't hide.

"Thanks..." She got up and left through the door faster than she should have.

She listened to the quick foot steps moving down the hall followed by an opening door that slammed shut a second later.

"No problem..."

Jade was currently in her bedroom leaning against her door. The previous moment was being replayed behind her closed eyes.

It was just an innocent "make it better" kiss. So why was she thinking it over like it was something special? Weird maybe, in the sense that it had happened between two people who were supposed to hate each other. But it was no reason to freak out and storm off to think about it.

She went over to her dresser and looked at her reflection in the mirror that stood on top. Her face was still flushed and she pinched her cheeks trying to regain control of her blood flow.

_"What's your problem West? Nothing even happened so get a grip already!"_

Who was she to care about such an act anyway? The only thing she should be feeling is an invasion of personal space. No one touches Jade West. Yet that was exactly what Tori did while cleaning her up. And Jade did nothing as she passed through her defenses over an over again.

_"What is wrong with me?"_

Later that day everyone was in the living room again. The coffee table was pushed back to the center of the room with a stack of cards laying in the middle of it. They were gathered around the table focused on the very important task at hand.

Beck looked around the table slowly putting down a card to stack it on top of the pile. "Uno!"

A series of groans erupted around him. This was their third game in a row where Beck was winning. Sure he still had to put down his last card but by now everyone knew he saved a wild card ensure victory.

"That's it! Andre we got to go, your friend is a witch!" His grandmother threw her cards and tried pulling Andre to his feet.

"Gramma he's not a witch."

"Oh no, I know a witch when I see one. They're sneaky little things with them being all smart and charming and they'll getcha when you're least expectin it." She pointed a wrinkled finger to Beck with her eyes wide open. "Don't let his beauty fool you!"

She wasn't always crazy. Most of the time she was completely coherent, but sometimes her schizophrenia was triggered and there was little you could do to stop it. There was a part of the accused boy that wanted to laugh but he held it in to not offend anyone. No one ever really saw Andre's grandmother too often and when she had her moments like this it was usually entertaining how extreme her paranoia could get. Other times it was something to steer clear of.

"Listen I'm not gonna say it again, Beck is not a witch. He's just a cheater." Andre turned in his cards as well showing he was done.

"Hey I'm no cheater just cause I know how to play the game."

The boys argued over the game and who's rules were the right ones. Meanwhile, Jade played her next card continuing the game without them.

"You're up Gramma." Jade looked to the old woman who was trying to open the bay window overseeing the driveway. "Yo Eleanor!" Everyone stopped what they were doing. They all looked to Andre's grandma who has also stopped her "escape". "That window doesn't open. Play your card."

She moves away from the window and takes her seat at the table picking up her grandson's cards. "Oh these are better than I remember." A draw two card is put down.

"Hey those are my cards!"

"These "were" your cards. Then you left. Now their mine. Go on and play with your little friend now. Gramma's got a game to win."

Jade held back her laughter but couldn't hide the amusement in her features. Beck reached his hand out to grab a couple cards. Eleanor slapped his hand over the table stopping him.

"Hold on Becky, you're out too."

"But I didn't cheat!"

"Sure ya didn't. But you're still out."

Now Jade was out right laughing at both the boys being told off by the woman who was freaking out no more than two minutes ago. The two kicked players got up and left the game mumbling to themselves as they went to the kitchen for snacks. It was now Tori's turn but she still hadn't played a card yet. Jade's laughter faded and she quickly grew impatient waiting for her turn.

"Come on Vega, tick tock."

Tori was pulled from her train of thought looking confused. "Huh?"

"Play a card!"

"Oh um...here." She puts down another draw two.

Jade looks at the two cards in her hand. A seven and a three. "Are you kidding me!" She drew four cards with a scowl and some choice words of her own.

They each went a few more turns ending the game with Eleanor as the winner.

"Ha ha! Take that suckas!"

Andre took another handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. Grumpily he said, "That was supposed to be my win."

"Boy, you wouldn't know what to do with those cards anyway. And don't talk with your mouth full. Momma raised you better than that."

As much fun as it was to watch Andre get tormented by his grandmother, Jade needed some space from the group. It was nice hanging out with everyone but after living under one roof with four other people for a week, she found it could be quite exhausting. Without saying a word, she got up and went out the front door to have a smoke.

She plopped herself down on the top step of the front porch and lit a cigarette for herself. The neighborhood had never been so quiet. Normally there would be the old guy across the street mowing his grass every other day. Or some kids from the neighboring development playing hockey in the street. Jade frequently took a drive just to be able to interrupt their game and hopefully run over some of their equipment. Sadly, the kids would always grab their gear and retreat as soon as she sped up.

The memories of not too long ago kept her mind too preoccupied and she never heard the door open and close behind her. She did hear the voice that followed though.

"You okay?" Tori asked as she took a seat next to her.

"Yeah I just needed some space from everyone."

"Oh." Tori's voice dropped a bit. "I'll just leave you alone then." She was about to get up but then the girl next to her spoke up.

"You can stay." Jade looked sideways reading her for any signs of rejection. "If you want to." A pleasant wave of relief washed over her as she saw her friend relax back down in her spot.

They sat there quietly for a moment. It was a little awkward but after a while Jade spoke up again.

"I hit a kid with my car once."

It was completely out of no where and Tori whipped her head towards the girl. "What?!"

She pointed the cigarette down the street where she remembered the kids would play. "Yup, right over there."

"Why would you do that?"

"He stuck his tongue out at me. I got mad. Then ran him over."

"Jade you can't just-" The soft chuckling made her stop mid sentence and realise she'd been tricked. "You're unbelievable sometimes, you know that?" The brunette shook her head trying to wrap her brain around the logic of such a sadistic mind.

"Believable enough for you to fall for it." It was really too easy sometimes. She could make the girl fall for almost anything if she twisted her words around right. "But really though, I tried."

"Jade!"

"Hey I said tried. The kids always moved too fast."

Tori wasn't sure if she should even believe her when she said she "tried". But at least the story ended with no one getting hit so she left it alone. She looked around at the neighborhood her friend lived in. The houses were pretty nice. All two floor homes with a two car garage, some of them probably had finished basements too. Then she got to thinking.

"Where's your dad?" Only after she asked did she wonder if it was a good idea to bring up the girl's family.

Jade took another, deeper inhale of smoke and blew it out before taking her time to reply. "I'm not sure. He's never home."

Tori wanted to know more but wasn't completely sure if she should pry. A minute of silence went by and Jade continued.

"He was always working so I was alone most of the time. Then I guess he got tired of coming back so he just stopped showing up on his time off." She spoke without emotion in her voice. It upset her in the beginning when her father stopped coming by to see his daughter but as time went on she stopped waiting for him to come back. "The power stayed on and I had a never ending river of cash to pull out the bank so it was whatever."

The whole story was so sad to Tori. She wanted to say sorry but Jade didn't even look bothered by it at all. Maybe that was part of the reason why she put up so many walls around her.

A stream of smoke lingered around them and found it's way to Tori's nose. She waved her hand in front of her face to rid the space of it. Jade saw this and moved the cigarette to her other hand to hopefully keep the smoke from traveling back over to her.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Brown eyes followed the smoke that was now trailing away from her.

She was never one for doing drugs, or even anything someone might consider bad like drinking. But she was curious despite the constant negativity she was told when discussing such substances. She thought about her next words carefully and if she really wanted to pursue her curiosity.

"Can I try one?" She recieved a questioning look as if the girl had actually heard her correctly.

"You want to try one? Really?"

Tori shuffled around a bit on the step, suddenly aware of how innocent her whole life has been. "Yeah...I mean I've always been curious. About a few things actually. But I don't know, what's the point of holding back now?" She waited for a reply but was only met with the same questioning stare. "Yolo?"

Jade bit back a snide remark on the ridiculous phrase but thought about what she was told and had to agree with it. Any day now could very well be their last. She pulled out the carton and opened it up looking inside seeing her last cigarette. "Ah what the hell." She pulled it out and tossed the empty pack onto her front lawn. She held it out for the other girl to take it, which she did.

"It's my last one, so enjoy it."

"I'll try my best."

She put it between her lips and sucked some air through it tasting the tobacco flavor. It wasn't exactly what she'd call an afternoon snack but there was a strange sweetness to it. Jade handed her a lighter and she went to light it up but couldn't quite strike it strong enough. There were a few sparks and she got a flame eventually but it didn't last more than a second. The repeated attempts were starting to annoy the goth and she just about had enough after the umpteenth try.

"Stop. Give it to me, I'll do it."

Tori handed over the lighter feeling defeated. Jade got a flame going on the first try and brought it over so she could finally light her first cigarette. She hesitated at first but leaned in holding the cigarette with one hand to make sure it stays still and brought it to the flame. She sucked in breathing in the burnt tobacco. As soon as it hit the back of her throat she began coughing violently.

_"I was wrong, this is how I die!"_ It was unbearable. The smoke burned going in but was scorching on the way out. Each cough was hell to the girl but her friend was laughing hysterically next to her.

"I thought...you...would have at...at least..." Jade couldn't speak the full sentence between the laughs and rode it out until she had her fill. There were tears in her eyes and she wiped them away as she completed her thought. "I figured you'd choke but at least get it lit before you start dieing." She continued chuckling to herself until Tori caught her breath.

Tori held her cigarette up to Jade's face. "It's lit isn't it?" She swallowed some spit that collected from all the coughing. It was the most disgusting saliva she'd ever tasted. "How the hell am I supposed to "enjoy" this if I can't get past the first hit?"

"Try pulling the smoke into your mouth, then inhaling it with some air. Slowly. Ya know, instead of shooting an entire forest fire down your throat again."

Tori hoped she was given some solid advice and nervously brought the death stick (her new nickname for cigarettes) back to her mouth. She did as she was told and felt the bit of smoke roll around in her mouth before carefully, and slowly, breathing it in. She felt the temptation to gag threaten to make her cough again but breathed in past that, pulling in more air than there was smoke. It seemed to help making the uncomfortable feeling disappear. She exhaled successfully and watched a fog escape from her lips.

Jade nudged her side with an elbow. "So?"

Tori felt herself get a little lightheaded. It was strange but not unpleasant. It was actually kinda exciting to feel this new sensation. "It's kinda nice to be honest."

"Good."

They sat there in silence once again enjoying each others company as they smoked the rest of their cigarettes. Jade finished hers off shortly after Tori began hers and flicked it into the street. She moved down a step so she could lean back and relax her body some more and looked up to the sky. It was getting dark out and the clouds looked like it might rain soon.

Tori broke the silence with a question that had been plaguing her mind. "When do I put it out?"

"When you're done."

"Right." She took another puff and exhaled. "So when am I done?" She felt a little stupid for asking such a simple question.

Jade let out a sigh. "When you don't want to smoke it anymore."

Tori nodded her head. "Right." She took yet another puff. "Am I supposed to stop at the line or can I go past it?"

The dark haired girl turned to look at her. She spotted the burnt paper an inch away from the girls fingers. "Vega?"

"Yeah?"

"You're smoking the filter."

"I see...so the line-"

"You stop at the line."


	10. Chapter 10

_A scream shot out through the apartment. The pitch was deafening as it reverberated off the walls and rang in their ears. Panic took over her whole being once again. Her legs shot her up but the walls came down as they shattered like broken glass. Everything went black around her, there was nothing but the ground she stood on and a door in front of her. A shakey hand reached forward pushing it open. The door creaked with every inch it was moved. She knew what was on the other side, but the hope of it being something different drove her forward. The blood was there still. The limp body of Cat Valentine was sprawled out on the ground. Her eyes were still open looking up at her. Then she spoke the same words as she had so many times before. "You couldn't save me."_

Jade shot her eyes open, waking up from her dream. It was still haunting her weeks after the event and she couldn't make them stop. It was driving her mad to the point where she spent many nights awake just to not have to revisit the horrors of that day. She had been trying to stay awake again tonight but her body crashed after two days straight of no sleep.

She went through her normal routine on these nights where she'd wake up before sunrise. It was like clock work to her. Wake up, get angry at herself, go to the bathroom, end up in her room. Tonight would be a little different considering she wasn't the only one awake at this hour.

Earlier in the night, the group of friends tried to pull an all nighter and pretty soon into the night, Tori was the only one still awake. Only problem was she couldn't sleep after being victorious as the last man standing.

There was a full moon outside and it illuminated everything by reflecting its bright light onto the earth. Something made it so captivating. The light shone through the cracks in the curtains that were then pulled aside a bit so the girl could pull up a chair and view the soft lit scenery outside. Her thoughts were off set when Jade woke up. She caught the entire midnight montage from where she was curled up by the window and deemed it time to change scene.

There was a gently knock on the bedroom door followed by a not so surprised Jade opening it. "Figures." She said before letting the girl in.

Inside the dark room were a couple of candles lit giving off just enough light to be able to not trip over anything.

"So romantic, were you expecting me?" Tori teased.

"You wish, the power's finally out." Jade grabbed one of the lit candles and set it down on the nightstand beside her bed.

"That was my next guess right after preparing a satanic ritual." She crackled the small joke but there was no come back.

"How come you're awake?" Jade sat down on the edge of her bed and flopped back with her arms laid out beside her. Tori took a seat next to her on the bed.

"I couldn't fall asleep after the rest of you guys did. I actually committed to the all nighter like we all said we would."

"Well sorry, I've pulled a few too many myself and I guess it caught up to me." The truth was told but the sarcasm was there. "What have you been doing this whole time?"

Tori put a finger to her lips thinking back on it. "I was just looking outside, thinking."

This peaked some interests. "Thinking about what?"

_"Thinking about you."_ It was crazy for the brunette to have the goth on her mind but over the past month with everything that had happened, the two got closer. Even Jade softened up to her, she was still abrasive and a part of Tori secretly enjoyed that side of the girl. But when they were alone, she showed off a more gentle side that she had never seen before.

"Just...stuff."

"Interesting...care to share?"

"Uh...I don't know. I think I'm still figuring it out." She wasn't lying.

"Well can I know after you're done thinking about it?"

"I guess so." She might be lying now. "So...how come you're up so early?"

It was Jade's turn to be put on the spot. "I had a dream."

Tori leaned back onto the bed as well, laying her head on top of a stretched out arm by accident. No one moved away from the touch, so she took her chances and acted normal. "Dreams are nice. What was it about?"

"Bad stuff."

"Oh...do you wanna talk about it?"

Jade turned her gaze away from the ceiling and to the girl resting on her arm. She could have pulled it away but she didn't. There was a kind of warmth that filled her stomach when they touched and the temptation to get closer to the girl next to her was growing with each passing moment. She stared into the brown eyes in front of her. The light from the candles reflected off of them in the dark room. Her lips were pouted slightly, probably from caring about her friend. However, Jade had to retract herself from the other girl before she clung to the soft features before her.

She reclaimed her arm and rolled over onto her side, now facing away from Tori.

"I can't get over Cat." Jade closed her eyes replaying the nightmare she knows so well. "In the dream, I'm back at her apartment and I hear her screaming again. Then everything goes dark and I can't wake up no matter how hard I try. It's like I'm forced to see her dieing in that bathroom over and over again." She wraps her arms around herself trying to ease the pain along with the tears she could feel building. "She tells me I couldn't save her. Every. Single. Time."

Tori listened to the story quietly. She didn't know what to say. Beck had explained to her and Andre what happened to Cat, but it was different hearing it from someone who had to relive the experience. Her hand reached out to touch a shakey arm. At first it just rested there until small circles were being traced into the smooth skin. It was small and simple but it worked to sooth whatever anxiety that was building up inside the girl.

Jade placed her own hand on top of Tori's and gave a light tug signaling her to come closer. She followed along and wrapped an arm around the curve of her waist. Their hands were still held together, only now their fingers were woven together. Tori felt a deep breath was taken in by the girl in front of her and she mimicked it with one of her own. Their breathing synced in time as they relaxed into the embrace.

The memories of weeks ago faded and were replaced with the feeling of comfort and safety. Jade felt her eyelids get heavier with each passing breath. Before she knew it she was fast asleep. Even more so, there was no fear of bad dreams. She finally found herself a good night's rest, and boy did she need it.

Tori on the other hand had never felt so awake. In fact the only thing keeping her grounded was the girl in her arms and the grasp she held their hands together with. She could feel the shift in the girl as she slipped off into sleep. The deep breaths became shallow and less frequent along with the steady rise and fall of her shoulders. It should have been easy to pay attention to these little things and she too could drift off to dream land. But her mind couldn't seem to focus on much right now.

_"I think I'm already dreaming."_

It took a long time and it was fairly difficult, but just like her friend, she too fell asleep in perhaps one of the best slumbers she's ever had.

"Tori...hey wake up."

Someone was nudging her shoulder, shaking her slightly. Upon opening her eyes she saw Beck with a black backpack over his shoulder. He was currently attempting to wake up Jade earning him a swat to his hand.

"What have I told you about waking me?" Sleep was present in the back of her throat in the form of slight croak behind her words.

"I know, but now's not the time." His voice was hushed in the lowest whisper he could use while still allowing the girls to hear him fine.

Once both girls were awake enough to focus in on him, he put a finger to his lips while shushing any conversation they might have had. He walked to the door waving them over to follow him.

The three of them went past the kitchen and saw Andre and his grandmother packing their bags with cans and individual sized snacks.

Jade wanted to know what was going on but was shushed again just as she opened her mouth. "Shh...come here." Beck ushered her over to the bay window where he just barely pulled it aside so she could peak outside.

There were people. A lot of them. She could count four a few houses up the street and saw another three walk out of the house diagonal to their own. They didn't know how many there were, but they were definitely out numbered. The question was if they were friendly or not and judging by her last interaction with strangers, she didn't trust anyone.

"We gotta get outta here."

Beck nodded. Most of the more essential food they could carry was already packed away thanks to Andre and Eleanor so they just needed an escape route. The only issue was their cars were just out front where they would surely be spotted immediately.

Jade threw on her shoes and stowed away her gun as she thought up a plan to escape. She did have a back door that they could take to the back yard and loop around the side of her house but it would be a longer distance out in the open. Then again, going out the front door would expose them to possible gunfire for a longer period of time. Assuming these people were armed and ready.

It was going to take more time and some sneaking around, but they went with the first option. Andre took the lead followed by Jade. They were going to attempt to take both cars so the two had to be first in order to unlock and start them up as quickly as possible. Behind them was Beck and Tori with the older woman between them. Their job was to make sure Eleanor would remain silent and force her along if one of her episodes were to be triggered.

The back door was cracked open slowly to check if the coast was clear. It all check out good with no one in site. The group exited the house in a single file and looped around the corner staying close to the siding as they moved. So far so good. As they got closer to the front of the house they could hear some voices a small distance away. It sounded like it was coming from the neighbors house on the opposite side. It wasn't much to work with as each home had roughly two hundred feet separating them from each other. But it was better than being at her front door.

Jade signaled for Beck and Tori to wait until the cars were unlocked. They could probably get to the cars unnoticed if they moved quick enough but as soon as the first door was opened it would attract the attention of at least a few closer people.

After another glance to check for anyone nearby, the designated drivers sped off to their cars crouching the whole way over. Luckily, no one seemed to notice. Jade grabbed her key and stuck it in the slot on the door handle turning it to the side to unlock it quietly. Like this it not only was the most silent way, but it also didn't flash the headlights like it would had she used the key fob. Andre did the same and when both cars were ready to get into he signaled for the rest of their group to follow through.

Tori beelined over to the other girl getting next to the door behind the driver's side, ready to open it on command. Beck guided Andre's grandma to her grandson's car as best her could but she wasn't as nimble as she once was so she couldn't crouch down far enough and was spotted once they arrived at the vehicle.

"Hey over there!"

"Shit. Hurry go!" Jade yelled out to her friends and they all rushed into their respective cars.

She and Andre got in and started them up immediately. Tori hopped in the back of Jade's car and slammed the door shut behind her. Beck all but shoved Eleanor into the back of Andre's sedan and jammed himself in after as the car was already thrown into reverse. Once it was put into drive and they were speeding out of the development he managed to get it closed as well. They had made it out safely.

Back on the front lawn outside their former home stood a man as he watched the two vehicles speed away and out of view. He looked to be about twenty years old and had dirty blonde hair just passed his jawline that swooped past his face in the blowing wind.

"Don't worry Benny, we will cross paths with them again."

He looked to the taller man next to him. "How can you be sure Marco?"

A dark hand was placed on the boy's shoulder. "I know everything."

Several miles down the road and a few turns later, the group of five were cruising on a familiar highway. The two cars were driving side by side now and after a quick honk, Jade turned her head to see Beck in the front seat next to Andre. He motioned for them to stop the car, so without pulling over to the side she slowed down and stopped in the middle of the road beside them. They lowered their windows to talk.

Beck started. "We gotta get gas. There's an Exxon not too far from here."

"Yeah I know, let's hope it still has power."

They raise the windows up and took the second exit coming up. The gas station they were going to was one that she was familiar with. She often bought her cigarettes from there along with mass amounts of energy drinks. She knew the people who ran the place too. Never quite got to know anyone's name but they never asked her either. Still they seemed like good people just trying to make a living.

This specific gas station also happened to be near the hospital. The same one she took Cat to before she died. It wasn't her preferred choice to stop for fuel but it wasn't like they had much of a choice right now.

Tori was sitting beside her in the front seat now looking out the window. "Where do you think we're gonna live now?" They couldn't exactly go back to Jade's house now that someone discovered it and caught them leaving. It was probably being raided for the left over food and supplies as they drove.

When the girl driving didn't reply she figured it was because she didn't have an answer. But something in the air was different now. She looked over and saw white knuckles gripping the wheel and gear shift. The car wasn't manual but Jade needed something else to hold onto to steady her nerves.

They passed the hospital and pulled into the Exxon. The lights were out but they hoped it was due to it still being daylight. The cars were parked by the gas pumps and everyone got out except for the old woman with them. She slipped into one of her episodes after being caught in their escape and right now the walls around her were the only protection from the bad guys she had.

Everyone else approached the small building with caution. Andre took the lead again and pushed one of the doors open causing the chimes attached to the inside of the door frame to jingle. They waited a few moments listening for any slight sounds of movement from inside but it was totally silent.

Andre whispered to his friends just in case there was someone hiding within the shop. "Let's spread out and cover the place. Make sure its empty."

He and Beck walked on opposite sides of the aisles glancing down each one checking them thoroughly. Jade went behind the counter where the registers were and saw no one along with empty shelves where one would find all sorts of tobacco products. She let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. Tori took it upon herself to check the bathrooms.

There was no light except from the sunlight shining through a few small rectangular windows lining the top of the one wall. The men's room was first and empty. She could hear her friends claim the front of the store clear. She proceeded into the women's room and checked the stalls one by one. The handicap stall at the end of the line was locked however and she backed up a bit suddenly afraid of what could be behind it.

"...hello?" She admitted to herself, that was dumb. But it was her first instinct.

Behind the door was a squeak of what sounded like sneakers against the ground. Tori lowered herself down to the tiled floor and peaked under the stall. There were no feet. Then she tried pulling herself up to look over the wall.

"Woah!" The surprise caused her to release her grip and fall back onto the ground.

Seconds later the three other teens rushed into the bathroom. Each of them asking what happened all at once. She just pointed to the door from her spot on the ground and spat out, "There's a kid in there!"

"Please don't hurt me!"

Everyone looked to the locked door stunned at what they heard on the other side. All four of them had the same thought.

_"What the hell is a kid doing here?" _


	11. Chapter 11

The four teens were at a loss of what to do. There was an unexpected change of events in their quest to fuel up their gas tanks and now none of them knew what to do about the little girl hiding in the bathroom. They remained speechless and looked between one another, unsure of how to assess the situation. Everyone's eyes landed on Tori expecting her to do something. She was the one who found the girl after all.

She picked herself up and approached the door separating them and looked back to her friends for any input only to recieve a couple shrugs.

She knocked on the door. "Um...hello? Are you okay?"

"Don't come in here! I'm uh..busy!" It was obvious the girl was lieing. She was scared and possibly alone, what else was she supposed to do? She was cornered by a bunch of strangers after all.

"Hey it's alright, we're not gonna hurt you." Tori put on the most gentle and easy voice she could muster up to try to not frighten the child even more. "My name's Tori. These are my friends Jade, Andre and Beck."

There was a brief pause before she answered back. "What do you want?" Her voice was reserved and defensive but the initial panic was fading away.

"We just wanna talk. Will you come out? Everything's gonna be okay, I promise."

A long moment passed by where the only sound in the room was the wind hurling past the small windows. Eventually two feet dropped to the ground from the toilet they had been perched up onto. The girl took the few steps to the door and peaked through the crack looking up and down at Tori to see what she looked like. Then there was sound of the latch sliding past the lock and the door opened.

The kid was almost a foot shorter than Tori. Her dark hair was matted to her head and face with dirt and grease and was full of tangles. Her clothes were filthy and covered with stains, same as her pink and blue back pack. She looked up to the older girl she'd been talking to, her green eyes revealing just how nervous she was in front of the group.

Tori kept a comfortable distance and leaned down with her hands on her knees to get on her level. She heard this worked well with getting animals to relax so she figured it might have the same effect. "What's your name?"

"...Madison."

Jade's eyebrow raised. Something felt strangely familiar about the name. Maybe it was just her imagination. Her friend continued to ask the girl some more questions.

"Hello Madison, are you alone here?"

The girl nodded her head and looked down at her feet as she played with the hem of her shirt. It was dark and torn at the seams. There were some glittery spots that were supposed to make words but most of it looked to be rubbed away. The only text still hanging onto the fabric was "a ny d s". It wasn't in the least bit legible. Yet the longer Jade inspected the girl in front of her, the more she got a weird feeling about her.

"What are you doing out here by yourself? It's not safe to be alone."

The child didn't answer this question. Instead she scanned the room looking over the rest of the teenagers around her for the first time.

Tori wanted the girl to keep talking in hopes of her opening up a bit. She dialed the interrogation back a little. "How old are you Madison?"

"I'm thirteen."

Just then, Jade was smacked in the face with the sudden realization of who the kid was. She let out a quiet, "Holy shit." as her jaw dropped.

Tori heard the swear and reprimanded the girl for inappropriate language in front of the minor. It was soon dismissed and the goth walked a few quick steps over to them, accidentally making the smaller one of them cower back against the wall.

Jade stopped short a few feet from the scared girl and got a better look at her. Her small frame began to quiver in fear of what the older girl might have planned for her. But to her, and everyone else's surprise, Jade asked a question no one could have possibly seen coming.

"Does the name Mallory mean anything to you?" They locked eyes, only Jade's had been intense and glaring while Madison's widened in shock.

"That's my sister! Do you know where she is?"

The older girl shook her head as a negative. "Sorry I haven't got a clue. Last I saw her was before everything fell to shit." Tori reminded her of her language which fell on deaf ears. "She was looking for you in the hospital. Something about getting you guys home to your dad."

Confusion replaced the shocked expression in the green eyes before her. "But...me and Mal don't have a dad?"

There was an awkward silence in the room. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding. Although the girl who jumped Jade had clearly lost her mind, so maybe she imagined the whole "daddy" part. It was unlikely there were multiple sisters with the same names and ages in the same area. Now wouldn't be the time to investigate though.

The door to the bathroom swung open making everyone jump and Madison scream. In the door way stood Eleanor with a bag of beef jerky in her hands.

"Andre! They got the sweet and spicy! Gimme some money before they sell out!"

"Gramma not now!"

"Boy I better get my fix or I'll-"

"Fine!" Andre stormed out grumbling incoherent words with his grandmother trailing behind. The patience he had was remarkable.

Once the two left with the door closed behind them, the young girl spoke up. "Is she sick?" She was referring to the disease that started it all.

Beck chimed in to explain the old women's condition. "No she's been like that for a while. It comes and goes but she's perfectly healthy."

"Speaking of healthy, when was the the last time you took a shower?" A blush rose under the dirty cheeks of the small girl.

"Jade!" Both of her friends snapped at her.

"What? She's obviously in need of some new clothes and a bath." Jade turned her head away from them and crossed her arms. "Someone had to bring it up."

Tori apologized for her friend. "Sorry, Jade can be...blunt at times." She heard a scoff from beside her. "But she means well."

"Do I?"

"Yes. So Madison, what do ya say we get you cleaned up and I'll lend you something to wear?" Tori flashed one of her famous smiles. It seemed to work when she received a small smile and nod in return.

Beck was sent to grab a couple gallons of water from one of the coolers. It was going to be a little inconvenient but the gas station didn't have power or running water so it would have to do. He handed the jugs over to the girls and excused himself to help Andre with his grandmother.

One of the jugs was dumped into the sink with plenty of dispenser soap. The other gallon was saved so it could be used to rinse of the excess soap and dirt. Tori dug through her bag for something that might fit the thirteen year old. She settled on a black tank top and an extra pair of skinny jeans. The clothes were set aside on the counter.

"Okay you're all set. I dont have a wash cloth on me so you're gonna have to use paper towels." Tori went to leave the girl alone to wash up. "We'll be right outside the door when you're done."

Madison put her bag down next to the sink before stopping the girls from leaving. "Wait, make sure no one comes in okay?" She meant the boys of course. And the crazy old lady.

Jade clenched her fist and pounded it into the palm of her other hand. "Don't worry, I've been dying to beat up some poor sap for ages now. Ain't no one is gettin' past me."

That put a smile on the girls face along with a chuckle. The door was shut behind them and Madison was left to take a long sought after bath.

Outside the restroom, Jade and Tori waited patiently for the girl to clean herself up. Both girls had the same question in mind that needed to be discussed.

Jade was the first to bring it up. "What are we gonna do with her?"

"Isn't it obvious? We gotta take care of her."

"Do we though?" It was sarcasm but it still annoyed Tori to hear it.

"Yes we do. It's too dangerous for a child to be out here alone. I don't even know how she managed to make it till now."

Jade groaned at having yet another mouth to feed when they only had so much food themselves. She knew there was no way the kid was being left alone out here now that they found her, not that she would have actually abandoned her. Things were just getting more complicated after having to leave her house and find new shelter. Plus with a new group of people out there scavenging for their own survival, they had to be careful to not run into trouble when it was time to go anywhere.

Tor was still stuck on the girl she found and went over the little bit she knew of her so far. She was thirteen, alone, and has a missing sister whom Jade might have known. It wasn't strange for the girl to keep secrets from the people around her, but the fact that she never mentioned running into the woman at the hospital bothered Tori to no end. She knew she should probably leave it alone, but her curiosity got the best of her.

"So this Mallory...did you know her?" She tried to keep it casual as to not be suspicious.

"Nope."

That was all she said but it wasn't enough to satisfy her curiosity. "So she just waltzed up to you asking about her sister?"

"Yeah kinda, right after she attacked me half naked in the bathroom." The words came out as if that's a normal every day occurence.

"She was half naked?"

"No no that's just fricken creepy. I was half naked."

"That's not any better!" She pulled her tone of voice back hearing herself clearly bothered. "I mean, why on earth were you even undressing in the first place?"

Jade picked up on how uneasy the girl was next to her. It was going to be easy to mess with her now. "What? You got a problem with me flashing some skin?"

Tori felt the heat rising in her body. "No! I-I just...I don't get why you would do that in a hospital."

"Jeez Vega, it wasn't like I was giving a free show or anything." She smirked with an idea. "Mallory didn't seem to mind though."

"Well she should have." The words left her lips before she had time to think of them.

"Jealous much?" The girl fell right into her trap.

"Not at all." Jade knew she was lying from the blush creeping up to her cheeks.

"Hm...I guess that means you wouldn't care if I mentioned how she got a hold of me with my shirt off." There was a noticeable twitch under a brown eye. "Yup, she held me for a good while too before letting go."

Tori clenched her teeth faking a smile. "I'm surprised you didn't beat the living shit out of her for touching you." It was meant to be a joke but there was definitely malice laced in her words somewhere.

Jade meant to mearly tease the girl and maybe make her a little jealous. Anger wasn't one of the feelings she thought would be evoked from her friend. "Take it easy tiger, I landed a pretty good blow to her face for daring to touch me."

The clearly annoyed girl crossed her arms and let out a huff. "Good." She didn't even care if she looked dumb any more, she was ticked off and the smirk she was receiving only worsened her mood. "What?"

"You're totally jealous."

"As if."

"Sure, keep telling yourself that."

Soon enough, the door to the women's room finally opened revealing a mostly refreshed young lady. Her hair was still matted down but it was from being damp instead of from grease. She was wearing Tori's tank top which fit pretty well but the pants were too long so they were rolled up at the bottom.

"How do I look?"

Tori's expression changed to a more pleased one as she clasped her hands together in approval. "Great!"

Jade eyed the girl in the clothes she was given. "I personally would have chosen something else to wear, but I guess it's better than what you had on."

Tori shot her a look. "Weren't you the one who packed my bag?"

"I grabbed what wasn't awful."

Madison interrupted the girls before they could continue arguing. "Do you guys always fight?" They looked at each other and then back down to her as if they had no idea what she was talking about. "Ya know I heard you from inside. The walls aren't too thick here." She walked past the odd couple of friends to venture off towards the rest of the group.

Jade leaned over to whisper in Tori's ear. "Do you think she heard I hit her sister?"

"Maybe? Probably best to not mention it again."

"Agreed."

In the main part of the gas station, Eleanor was browsing what was left of the snack aisles while the boys were searching other areas. Beck currently was digging through a supply closet, tossing out extra paper towels and empty cleaner bottles. There was another door opened behind the counter with a sign on it labeled "Staff Only". Andre ran out of the room skidding to a halt.

"Guys I think I found something!"

Everyone except his grandmother and their newest addition joined him. Inside the small room was a lot of clutter and seemingly useless equipment that would only be of some importance if the place was still in business. But none of that was what he was talking about. Hidden underneath a tarp in the back of the room was a large engine looking contraption.

"I think it might be a generator. I'm not sure how to get it going though. Any ideas?"

Beck inspected the machine and concluded it was in fact as his friend thought. There was just one problem.

"Oh yea it's a generator all right. But it looks like it's got a ripcord to get it started."

Tori practically jumped for joy. Finally they were getting somewhere. "Okay so let's plug it in and yank on it."

"Yeah that would be great, but think of it as a lawnmower." She didn't get it, you pull the cord and it starts. Easy. "It needs gas to keep it running."

And the dilemmas were back. The whole reason they stopped at this place was to fuel up Andre's car and now they needed it to light up the building. But without power, they couldn't get the gas.

"We could syphon what's left in my tank." Jade still had less than a quarter tank left in her car. If it worked then there was no problem. If it didn't, then they'd have to figure something else out. "It's worth a shot."

There was a collective shrug among the teens agreeing on the plan. Beck was the most experienced in anything mechanical so naturally he was put on the job. Although he had never siphoned anything before, how hard could it be?

He fished out a tube long enough from the supply closet along with an empty gas can. He was hoping it would work just like it did in the movies, you just suck until it comes out and hopefully it keeps the flow. The hose was jammed in the hole leading into the gas tank until it reached the bottom. The empty can was already opened and nearby, ready to be filled. All that was left was for Beck to transfer it.

His lips pressed to the end of the tube, and on the count of three he sucked the yellow liquid up and out the end of the hose. He pulled his mouth away before he could get a taste but only a little came out. He gave it another try giving more suction which in turn gave him a mouth full of burning fuel. It was spit out immediately onto the concrete beside him. The taste was worse than he thought it would be, but it was worth it because the stream continued on until there was no more left in the tank.

The gas can was nearly full collecting close to two and a half gallons. Now all they had to do was find where to plug the bad boy in and start it up.

Normally an outlet suitable to attach a generator would be near the breaker box containing all the power switches to the building. Most homes had this in the basement or around the side or back of the house. Luckily it wasn't hard to find as it was right next to the emergency exit outside.

The boys worked together to move the generator through the back door while the girls carried over the extension cables and gas can. Beck located the blank meter that would show the power levels and flipped open the outlet cover finding it to be a match for the plug. After setting it up and dumping in the fuel he grabbed the handle to the ripcord.

"Here goes nothing."

He ripped it back getting a couple tumbles from inside the machine. And again, the cable was pulled followed by some more rumbling. The third time he gave it a try was a success and the generator was started up.

It ran for half a minute before the meter picked up and displayed a series of numbers. The AC unit next to them began to vibrate as it was restarted as well.

All four of them cheered at their new power source and ran inside to share the news. Things had finally worked out the way they needed it to. Before they got too caught up in their victory, they made sure to turn on a register and "pre-pay" two of the pumps to take care of their cars and have an extra stock of spare gas cans. The next step would be to kick back and enjoy some well deserved lunch to congratulate themselves.

Night time came quickly as the hours passed. Inside the Exxon slept four of the six people that made up the small gang. They littered the floor with only their bags as pillows. It was their newly designated home for now seeing as it supplied them with an energy source and plenty of supplies they can use. There was a lack of proper bedding but it was a small sacrifice for the benefits it provided to stay there.

As everyone settled down for the night, Jade took to having some alone time outside as she liked to do every now and then. Tori on the other hand couldn't sleep but wanted to respect the girl's need for privacy so she explored the store front for anything they may have missed.

Most of the salvageable food came in the form of chips, sweets, smoked meats, and candy along with plenty of beverages that hadn't spoiled like the milk section. It wasn't exactly a sustainable diet but it was something they could munch on in between the canned fruits and vegetables they had brought along with them. Aside from the food, there were a lot of tools in the supplies closet that would come in handy if they ever needed to work on their vehicles or make additional improvements and repairs to the building itself. If they were going to stay there it might be a good idea to make it a more secure property.

Right now, Tori was browsing behind the front counter to see what was hidden back there. She found some magazines, a newspaper, other reading material that meant nothing to her. Pens and notepads were tossed haphazardly under the open counter space. Then she spotted something that might make a certain someone a little happy. She snagged the box and grabbed one of its contents stuffing it inside her pocket.

She still wanted to give Jade her space but considering the surprise she had in store, it seemed like a good time to bother her.

Tori walked outside and looked around the empty parking lot. She peaked through the girl's car window and it too was empty. She was no where to be found.

"Jade?" Tori called out hoping to not have to venture out into the darkness in search of her friend.

"Up here."

She turned around and looked up. Jade was sitting on the roof with her feet dangling over the edge.

"What are you doing up there?"

"I thought it'd be fun. You should come up here." She waved a hand over insisting.

"Uh no. You're probably gonna push me off if I go up there."

"Like I said, fun." Tori stood her ground with her hands on her hips. Jade let out a sigh. "I promise I wont push you off. Now get up here, you gotta see this."

"Fine, how do I get up there?"

"Go around back."

She listened and went around the side of the building and just a few feet away from the generator was a ladder attached to the wall leading up to the roof. She climbed to the top and walked along the gravel that coated the floor to her friend.

"Okay what do wanna show me."

Jade patted the spot next to her. "Take a seat."

Tori peered over the edge looking down to the pavement below them. Heights were never a strong suit for her. "I don't think I can."

"Just sit down."

"What if I fall?" Her nerves were getting the best of her.

"We're not nearly high enough to die from here, worst case you break a leg."

"I don't want that either!"

"Just sit your ass down."

Taking a deep breath, Tori inched closer to the ledge. She put her hands down first followed by propping her knees up beside her. Now she was on all fours and couldn't move out of fear. "This is fine."

"I don't think so." A hand was offered to the shakey girl which she eagerly accepted and held onto for dear life. After a bit of fumbling around, Tori managed to twist her body around and sit properly onto the ledge. "There, that wasn't so hard was it?"

Tori shot a mean look over to Jade but she didn't see it. Her eyes were looking out past the gas pumps in front of them. She turned her gaze to look in the same direction and saw what it was that she so desperately needed to go all this way to see.

In front of them was miles of darkness followed by whatever lights were still powered in the distance. There would normally be a ton more scattered throughout the plane but only a couple dozen remained. The mountain painted a solid black color across the horizon which separated the earth from the thousands of stars cast out in the open clear sky. Without all the light pollution, the stars twinkled brightly showing off each and every constellation that hovered above them.

"Wow."

"I know right?"

The two sat in silence for a while gazing at the sight before them. It was really something else.

The view distracted the formerly scared girl from her fear of heights along with the fact that they were still holding hands, which she suddenly became aware of. Tori pulled her hand away, feeling quite embarrassed, but had also remembered the reason she came outside in the first place.

"Oh, so I found something I thought you might like to have." She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a little box wrapped in plastic. "I know it's not the kind you usually have, but beggars can't be choosers."

"Holy smokes!" Jade snatched the cigarettes out of her hands and literally tore the top off the box and tossed it to the ground below them. She was handed a lighter and within a matter of two seconds she was puffing away happily.

"I take it you liked your surprise." Supporting bad habits wasn't one of Tori's most sought after goals, but seeing the content smile plastered to the other girl's face was a damn good achievement in her eyes.

"This is honestly the best night I've had in a long time."

"Who knew a pack of death could bring such happiness?"

"You have no idea."

A cigarette was offered to the Latina which she took and plopped in her own mouth. "Would you mind...?" She leaned forward requesting a light.

Jade rolled her eyes and reached for the lighter but accidentally knocked it off the ledge.

"Oops..."

"Awe man..." Disappointment filled Tori's words seeing as she would have to either wait to smoke again or take a trip back down to retrieve the fallen item.

Jade on the other hand had another idea. One that would surely fill her desire to tease the other girl to no end.

"Hey." Tori looked to her friend, unlit cigarette still in mouth. "Don't move."

Jade grabbed hold of her friends face and moved in. Tori's eyes widened as their lips got closer. They were only inches away when the tips of their cigarettes touched. She was once again frozen, only this time it wasn't out of fear but instead anticipation. It wasn't until she saw two eye brows twitch that she picked up on what was happening. She sucked in a bit of air drawing in the heat from the lit cigarette causing her own to light up as well.

After it was well lit and smoking on it's own, they separated.

"You're welcome." Jade leaned back on one arm grinning to herself. It really was too easy sometimes.


	12. Chapter 12

Any time Tori thought about the end of the world it was always something similar to the movies. A nuclear bomb killing off millions and leaving behind a radio active world. People coming back to life as human flesh craving zombies. Mass genocide and war. The way things actually turned out didn't seem too far off from everything else though. The scarcity of safe food, the threat of other people, the power outages and having to make do with what you've got, it's all pretty spot on. But falling for someone in the midst of it all, she was sure that was just TV drama added for entertainment. That was until she found herself in that exact situation.

Developing feelings for someone during the apocalypse wasn't even the shocking part, it was who caught her eye that threw her through a loop. Jade West. The same Jade West that had a personal vendetta to make her life a living hell has now become the object of her desire.

She wasn't exactly sure how it happened. Maybe it was the fact that they were forced to constantly be together now. It could be from the way they comforted each other through their hard times over the past few weeks. Something else was telling her these feelings aren't entirely new but she couldn't imagine why. Either way, now she was stuck in this torn apart world with a girl she couldn't get her mind off of.

"What are you thinking about?" Jade asked the girl who had been staring off into the starry night sky.

"Hm...just that same old stuff again."

"Still haven't figured it out yet, huh?"

"No I think I've got it now." Tori looked down to her feet still dangling over the edge of the roof. She wasn't afraid of falling anymore, at least until it was time to get up and leave.

"Sooo...can I know now?"

She bit her lip unsure if she can open up to the other girl. She had only just admitted it to herself moments ago. "I don't know, it's...touchy."

"Touchy?" Jade raised her eyebrows, feigning shock as she put on her southern bell voice. "Tori Vega, are you having naughty thoughts inside that precious little mind of yours?"

"I don't talk like that! And no!"

"Then what's the big deal?"

"It's just private okay."

It seemed to be the right phrase because the pestering ended after that. Tori wanted to sigh in relief but felt kind of bad shutting her out. She wanted to tell her, or let her in a even a little, but they had gotten so close and the thought of putting a wall between them now was terrifying.

Jade noticed a sullen look plaster itself on the other girl's face making her heart drop. Maybe she shouldn't have tried to push her to talk.

"That stuff you've been thinking about, is it all good now?"

"I guess you could say that."

It was vague but at least it wasn't bad. "Then I guess that's all I need to know."

Tori's lips were graced with a soft smile. These random acts of sweetness she received every now and then meant a lot to her and she appreciated every one no matter how insignificant it seemed.

She took a chance and grabbed the hand resting beside her. "Thank you."

Jade squeezed the hand atop her own. "Sure thing."

They hung out on top the building for a little longer before deciding to try and get some rest themselves. The trip back down and inside took longer than it probably should have. Mostly due to Tori not being able to move from her spot out of fear of falling. She ended up needing to be dragged backwards until she could drop her feet to the gravel spread across the roof. Lucky for her, Jade didn't drop her on her ass like she threatened to.

The two girls went in through the back door as quietly as possible to not disturb the others. They bid each other goodnight and claimed their own spots along the floor. It didn't take long for Tori to drift off to sleep. Jade would too soon after but not before glancing one last time at the snoozing girl.

The next day came along and everyone was munching on whatever it was they chose as breakfast.

They were currently discussing how they were going to sustain themselves in their now home. If there were a time to remember anything and everything from post apocalyptic movies, it was now. Thankfully, horror was a favorite among one of them meaning they should be well prepared to deal with anything thrown their way.

It was by mere chance they stumbled upon the place in such good condition along with a functioning generator to get it powered and working again. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was a lot better than venturing out to find another place in hopes of finding one unoccupied.

There were certain obstacles they had to overcome in order to make it a safe living space. They would have to reinforce the wall sized windows at the front of the store for starters. In the event of unwanted visitors, all they would have to do is toss a rock and they'd be in. Boarding them up at the very least would be a good idea.

Then there was the obvious problem of being completely defenseless aside from a single firearm. The residents of the previous home were all too familiar with the feeling of being completely vulnerable to attack had one been made. They had no choice but to flee less they had stuck around to chat to the raiders. They needed some serious line of defense.

The only thing they weren't in major need of was food and that's only because they landed in a spot already equipped with more than enough water and snacks. But that too would run out eventually, given they wouldn't be forced to abandon the Exxon as well.

Tension was building up in the room and Andre didn't bother hiding it.

"Do you really expect the gun shop to be empty? That must've been the first place people ran off to when shit hit the fan. And I don't think one pistol can put up a fight against a whole calvary." He was pacing back and forth going through every possibility that could go wrong.

Beck on the other hand was trying to stay positive. "Look maybe whoever was going already stopped in, grabbed what they could, and left. It could be abandoned by now."

"I highly doubt that. I ain't goin' near it and neither are any of you."

No one disagreed with him knowing he was right. And losing someone to search for weapons made the argument redundant.

It was more important to be able to hold up the fort anyway. They collectively thought of different ways to secure the property and decided boards or even bars would be a good addition to the windows. Installation would be dealt with once they had an idea of what they were going to use and how they would get it.

Eleanor brought up the Home Depot a couple miles away. There would be a vast variety of materials and tools to choose from along with heavier equipment that could double as a bludgeon. It wasn't a long distance defense but it would be better than throwing punches. In all honesty it didnt seem like a bad idea.

Everyone was in tip top shape, including Beck, so they would all go on the trip to the hardware store. After all, the more hands the better. It would definitely make the trip quicker and two cars would be able to transport more. Also this way they could all stick together in case they ran into trouble.

It was decided. Everyone divided into the cars same as last time, only this time Madison joined Tori and Jade in their car.

Just the same as Walmart, this parking lot had some cars scattered throughout it. A good amount more too. The two cars were currently pulled over to an empty lot across the street from the Home Depot. Everyone scouted the area from within the vehicles for a long while making sure the coast was clear before even driving up to their destination. They were going to take every precaution to ensure everyone made it back without consequence.

The only thing spotted was a flock of grazing birds and a stray dog. It appeared to be just them.

They rolled up to the main entrance and parked side by side. The motion sensor doors needed to be pulled apart so they could enter. This place was powerless along with the rest of the town.

Unfortunately there weren't any windows considering it was basically a giant warehouse which made everything past five feet of the doors slowly fade into darkness. They hadn't anticipated this dilemma but fortunately for them, Tori still carried her cell phone in her back pack.

She kept it charged while staying at Jade's house so they could listen to the downloaded music. The battery was at twelve percent but the flashlight application would still be able to operate long enough for them to find actual flashlights.

They stayed close behind Tori as she directed them through the store. They were completely enveloped into darkness. It was as if they were being swallowed whole.

Eleanor was beginning to have another episode to make things worse. Her breathing picked up and she balled her fist into her grandson's shirt pulling herself closer to him.

"Shh Gramma it's okay, just uh...close your eyes. Hold on and follow me."

Beck joined in, not wanting to play hide and seek in the dark with the old woman. "Yeah here," he looped his arm through hers. "I can personally escort you."

His charm played off and her panic attack turned into a dream date. "Oh my goodness, Andre this young man is taking me out on the town! Don't hold me back!"

"Hey I want an escort too!" Madison shouted as she grabbed onto Beck's free arm.

Andre threw his hands up in the air. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"What is this, the bachelor?" It was a good thing to avoid losing the elderly woman, but Jade was quickly losing her cool.

Truth be told she was having a terrible time wandering in the dark with nothing more than a dying cell phone to guide them. It wasn't that she was afraid of the dark, she actually welcomed it. It was not knowing what was around each corner that was putting her on edge. She wanted to rush past the slow moving girl beside her but she had no idea where they were even going.

Then all of a sudden they heard something fall and crash against the ground some aisles away from them. They all silenced themselves and turned towards the sound. Everyone bunched together even more as they watched for movement in the small amount of light they had.

Tori shone the light in the direction of the sound revealing a bucket of paint stirrers sprawled about the ground. Madison let out a scream and clutched onto Beck's arm tighter as a rat ran out of the toppled over bucket.

"It was just a rat." Jade released the breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Can we hurry up and find some damn flashlights already?"

The mini jumpscare was enough to quicken their pace. After a few more laps through miscellaneous aisles, they spotted the goods. Jade didn't hesitate to grab one and tear through the thick plastic seal covering the flashlight. No one knew how she managed to muscle through the indestructible packaging.

She clicked the on button several times trying to get a reaction from it but nothing happened. Tori picked up the discarded plastic cover and read the fine print labeled on the bottom. "Batteries not included."

"Of course they're not..."

They would have to travel back to the front of the store and pick up the appropriate batteries if they wanted to use them. But first they grabbed six flashlights off the shelf before heading back.

It didn't take long to get back and fill the flashlights up with batteries. Now the search for supplies could begin. They grabbed a couple shopping carts and split off into two groups. The boys and Jade were together leaving the other three girls to search apart from them.

They agreed to return to the front of the store within the hour and ring one of the bells at the registers when they returned. The sound should resonate through the building considering the dead silence it was filled with.

Everyone had a pretty good idea of what to look for. Basically anything they could use to build with, fight with, or just to improve their daily lives in general.

Tori led her small group through the outdoors section of the warehouse. She figured there must be a camping area where they could find some basic survival equipment.

Maybe tents weren't a bad idea, but they were on the heavier side and having multiple smaller sizes would still be a load to carry. On the other hand, some solar panels wouldn't hurt. She tossed a couple packs into the cart and continued browsing. By the time they scanned through the entire section they had picked up a few bundles of fire sticks, a portable stove along with some butane cans, a multi-pack of camping dishware including a pot and pan, and even three sets of walkie talkies. She would have to remember to grab more batteries for them before they left.

Along the wall was an opening to another room which lead into the gardening section. There were still some live plants throughout the room but they were mostly cactus.

She spotted a rack full of different packets of seeds.

"Hey, do you guys think we can grow a garden back at the gas station?"

The old woman walked up to the rack and examined the packets herself. "Sure we can, ya know I had a garden back at the house. Andre used to love helping me plant all kinds of stuff. Tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, squash. Oh the squash was huge! I prided myself on those babies."

"Great! Do you think it'd be safe though?" She picked up a packet labeled carrots. "All cause I wanted a dang salad."

"Listen to me baby girl. If you focus too much on the what ifs, you'll never get the goods. That's just how life is."

She thought about what she was told. It made sense in a way. "What if everyone ends up getting sick?"

"Well I'll just try it first myself."

"What? No you can't, if something happens-"

Eleanor shushed the girl and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Honey I am sixty four years old. If I'm gonna go out, I'ma go out with a belly full of veggie and a smile on my face." Tori laughed at the woman's care free attitude.

They ended up grabbing a few different kinds of seeds. It was getting around the time for them to head back and meet up with the others soon.

On the other side of the building was the other group checking out the store's assortment of power tools.

In their own shopping cart was a large segment of chain link fence, a couple boxes of nails, screws, nuts and bolts, and a pile of as many wooden planks as they could stack in the basket along with some other small tools they picked up along the way.

"Should we get a battery powered drill or go with a plug in?" Beck asked holding up the two boxes.

"Get the plug in, the battery wont last long and it's probably weaker anyway." Andre said while holding up a display nail gun. "Hey how far do you think this thing can shoot?"

"Who knows? Give it a try. Maybe you'll break something expensive." Jade was sitting on a nearby service counter. She was bored out of her mind after the first ten minutes. Turns out the trip to the hardware store got a lot less exciting once the shopping began.

He held the gun up playing around with it like he was going to shoot something. "Yeah right, there's no power runni-" it fired off and pierced through a bag of cement mix, pouring the contents out through the hole. "How the shit?!"

A distant scream could be heard from the other side of the building.

The tools were quickly tossed into the cart and they ran in the direction of the scream. Beck pushed the cart as fast as he could while dodging shelves trying to keep up with his friends ahead of him. He ditched the cart near the entrance to pick up later.

They were searching blindly with only their flashlights to guide them. The scream only happened once and then silence.

"Gramma! Tori!" Andre called out trying to figure out where they were. "Madison! Where are you guys?!"

There was no answer but a high pitched scraping could be heard coming from the gardening area. They moved faster and as they got closer they could hear a smack and grunt followed by a thud.

Light was shining through a large open doorway. The three hurried inside the area and saw Tori heaving over something with hedge trimmers in her hands. It was a thin man who had an over grown beard and a large laceration across his cheek. Blood was dripping down his face and onto the ground beneath him.

There were sounds of struggle and muffled voices from behind one of the shelves. The guys went around the corner not expecting to see two women in equally bad health as the man. Their hands were clasped over Eleanor and Madison's mouths and held them both as best they could to keep them from escaping.

Beck pulled the one woman off of the young girl and threw her into a rack full of pots. They shattered on impact as her body slammed against the shelves. Andre on the other hand ran his fist directly into the other woman's jaw, sending her to the ground immediately.

Jade was left to get their last friend which should have been easy considering she wasn't held captive. "Good job, now let's get out of here!"

She didn't budge. In fact she wasn't moving aside from the rise and fall of her shoulders as she took in deep breaths. Jade grabbed her shoulder to pull her out of there but her body swung around with the sheers gripped tightly in hand. The tip of the blades went flying past Jade's face almost cutting her just like the man.

"Jesus Tori!" Another swing of the sheers went past her face but she managed to dodge it.

The girl was stuck in a frenzie as she randomly threw her hands in all directions. She couldn't see anything due to the light shining in her eyes making her attacks sloppy. Jade had to stop her before she hurt someone important.

Without thinking, she slapped her friend across the cheek with all the force in her right hand making her stumble back. She took the opportunity to rip the giant scissors away from her and toss them far away from them.

She thought it was over until she felt a fist come in contact with her face in the same spot where she had been shot with the bb pellet. It began to swell as Jade felt the familiar pressure building under her right eye. Now she was mad.

A part of her wanted to return the hit and then some but she knew they had to get out of there. She grabbed Tori from behind and lifted her off the ground to throw her into the nearby shopping cart. They regrouped at that moment, snagged the dropped flashlights, and left without looking back.


	13. Chapter 13

The trip to Home Depot went smooth until it was time to leave. Half their group had been jumped by another smaller group in the gardening section.

They must have been following the three girls for a while before going in for the attack. How they maneuvered through the pitch black interior was still a mystery. Perhaps their eye sight adjusted to the dark, it didn't matter.

All of the gathered supplies were basically dumped into the trunks of the two vehicles in record time and they were off heading back to the gas station.

Madison sat in the front seat of Jade's car while Tori was laying across the back seats unconscious. When she was thrown into the shopping cart, her head smacked against the handle bar coincidentally knocking her out cold.

"And then that dude jumped out behind the tractor and was yelling at us to leave his property and those ladies came outta no where and got me and Elie and Tori smacked the shit outta the guy with these giant scissors and-" Madison went on about the ambush for the rest of the ride.

It looked like those people had probably long gone insane. They weren't even armed and from their point of view the gang must have looked like the bad guys. Especially since they all got more than their share of beatings. Jade almost felt bad for the poor saps.

When they returned to their base they did a quick check to make sure everyone was okay. Each person checked out fine except for Tori who was still snoozing in the car, but she was probably fine too aside from a headache that would surely be waiting for her.

The trunks were popped open and their loot was getting sorted out as they unloaded it all.

"Let's see...we got some fence, wood, walkie talkies? Nice." Andre was taking stock as the cars were emptied. "What do we need fertilizer for?"

His grandmother answered that one for him. "We're gonna start a garden, just like the good ol' days." She smiled brightly at the thought of fresh food.

Her grandson shook his head, a smile on his face also. "Okay...how about this road salt?" Held up a bag of white crystalized powder which was then snatched away from him by small hands.

"That's mine! And it's not salt, it's sodium nitrate." He gave her a blank look clearly not knowing what she was talking about. "It's usually used as an additional fertilizer supplement." There was no reaction. "It used to be a curing agent for meats, ya know before people found out it's not so good to eat a lot of it." He still had no idea what the stuff was. "You're so stupid...we can make smoke bombs with it."

"Ooh..." Now she was speaking his language. "And uh, how exactly do you know how to make smoke bombs?"

The girl shrugged with the unopened bag in her hand. "I like science and YouTube."

By the time the rest of the stuff was unloaded and brought inside, Tori had woken up and was steadying herself as she sat up in the back seat. She had one hand gripping the back of her head where there was now a hard bump.

"Ouch...what happened?" Her eyes caught sight of the gas pumps. "Why are back here?"

Madison jumped over and nearly tackled her back down into the car with a hug. "Tori you're awake!"

"Just in time to not help out, thanks." Jade walked over and helped her out of the car.

She was sporting a swollen cheek along with the start of a bruise forming under her eye. Then Tori remembered getting jumped at the store.

"Are you okay? Did that asshole do this to you? I knew I should've-"

"Stop. First, this asshole did this to me." She poked a finger into her shoulder. "Second, you shouldn't have done nothin'. Everyone's fine and we got everything we needed."

The gears were turning in Tori's head trying to play back everything that happened during the fight.

She grabbed the nearest thing she found, which were hedge trimmers. Swung at the guy smacking him in the face. He fell down. Things got a little fuzzy after that. She couldn't hear or see anything after hitting him, it was like time froze around her. Then she remembered a stinging pain on her cheek and throwing a punch. She didn't realize it was the other girl.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." Jade wasn't happy in the slightest about their little tussle.

Madison however acted like the girl was the coolest thing to walk the Earth. "Tori you were awesome back there! That guy jumped outta no where and you were all like "Fuck off bitch!" and he was all like "No you!" and then you cut his face open like a freakin ninja! And then Beck saved me from th-"

She kept rambling on about the heroics of the boys but none of it was heard. Tori had her eyes locked on Jade. More specifically the bruise she gave her. It was an accident but that's why she felt so bad about it.

There were still hours of daylight left before the sun descended for the night and that time was going to be used to add as much defense to the foundation as possible. It was most likely going to take multiple days worth of work before they would consider their new home safe but the project was started immediately.

Beck drew up a basic plan of what they could do as far as reinforcing the windows. The goal was to lay the chain link fence against the glass and attach wooden beams around the perimeter of it to hold it in place. The idea was that if the glass were to be broken, there would still be a barrier preventing intruders from entering. The fence could always be screwed in by itself but the added support from the beams would make it harder to rip away from the walls.

Beck and Andre got to work on the windows right away while Jade thought up the next project. She was brainstorming ideas when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Tori.

"Do you want some help?"

"Sure, I'm thinking of making the roof into a look out post so we're not just sitting ducks out here. For starters, we should add another layer to raise the walls up there, but we don't have unlimited wood with us. Now we do have all these shelves and racks in here we could use."

"There's also the bathrooms, we could take down some stalls and used those too."

"Yeah yeah, good thinkin." She jotted down each new idea they thought of and their make shift watch tower was looking to be pretty nice on paper.

The thirteen year old girl wandered over looking to help as well. "Hey what if we made a bunch of stuff we could throw down from there. Like to slow down anyone who comes by. Oh and we can add an escape hatch too."

Tori was happy to see the kid attempting to help but the escape hatch wasn't going to work. "Good ideas, but I don't think we're equipped to make a hole in the ceiling just yet."

"That and it'd be a waste of time. Besides, there's a ladder attached to the roof and leads directly to the back entrance." Jade wasn't about to amuse the childish ideas.

Madison thought for a minute and gave another idea. "Well then we should protect the ladder. If it's the only way up and down, we could get cornered up there."

"Hey that's a good point." Said Tori, getting a smile from the small girl.

_"Damn that is a good point."_ Jade didn't admit it out loud but the girl was definitely onto something.

She pulled out another sheet of paper and drew up the back wall of the building. There were a few feet between the back door and the ladder. It was more important to have good stand still walls surrounding the only access to the roof so she modified the previous plans to have shelves used to build the wall around the look out up top, and use the bathroom stalls as the barricade around back.

Now all she had to think of was the installation.

_"We should probably dig into the ground a bit to anchor the stalls. But that would make them shorter and less effective. Maybe keep them all attached and shove the dividers down. That could work."_

She scribbled the idea down and turned to her friend for a second opinion but she was no longer beside her.

The two girls that were previously helping her come up with ideas were currently unpacking the walkie talkies. They slipped some batteries in the set and tried them out from opposite ends of the store. It soon became a game for them and even Eleanor joined in on the fun.

Jade grumbled to herself and went back to work.

By the time it got dark out they had finished reinforcing the windows and disassembled two snack shelves and the boys bathroom. The remodeling process would be picked up again the next day starting with the the roof. A pulley system was going to have to be rigged up to pass some of the heavier pieces along, they had a good place to start at in the morning.

The strenuous work the group put on themselves had taken its toll on on them making slumber easy to find that night. Even Madison was fast to sleep and she had the most energy of them all.

Tori was beyond beat as well after the earlier fight along with helping out and squeezing in some time to play around a bit. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and rest but she barely had a chance to really talk with her crush since they got back and she really needed her fix. So just as she did the night before, she quietly went outside to see if the girl was there.

The parking lot was empty and so was the ledge above her. Instead of calling out again she went ahead and climbed the ladder to the roof to check for her. Just as she suspected, Jade was there. Only tonight she was laying back on a tarp and staring up at the sky.

Tori invited herself to lay down next to her. The stars were just as bright and captivating as before.

"Is this your spot now?"

"Yup." Jade picked up the pack next to her and held it out. "Wanna smoke?"

"Yes." Tori grabbed a cigarette and waited for Jade to get her own and light them both.

"When are you gonna start doing this on your own?"

"When I learn." Truth was, Tori liked having Jade light it for her.

"Which is when?"

"When you teach me I guess."

"I don't need to teach you how to use a lighter."

"Guess you'll have to keep doing it then."

Both girls had nothing left to say and were left to their own thoughts to busy their minds.

Tori of course was thinking of the girl beside her. She was on her mind all the time now, especially during times like this where they would be off on their own away from everyone else. Most of the time they got a moment to themselves was when the others were sleeping. Other times it was to catch a smoke break during the day, which she had been taking advantage of just to spend some alone time with the other girl.

Jade looked to be stuck on something with the way her eyebrows furrowed. She ignored her cigarette all together allowing it to burn down slowly on it's own.

"What the matter?" Tori asked her.

"It's just...I'm thinking about what happened back at Home Depot." Her voice lingered on like she wanted to continue. She didn't know where to start. "We heard a scream and I wasn't sure if we'd find one of you dead. I don't want to lose anymore of us I guess."

"I don't think any of us do."

"Yeah." Jade's eyes moved across the sky as if trying to find the words she wanted. "You really protected them ya know."

"Well you guys are the ones who came in and saved us really. I just blacked out and acted on instinct." Tori was never good at simply accepting praise and felt the need to equalize her actions to her friends.

"Oh believe me I know. Unless you really meant to give me this." She pointed to her black eye. "Which if that's the case...well you can imagine the rest."

"I swear I didn't know it was you!"

"Yeah yeah. By the way, you got a nasty left hook."

Tori sat up and leaned over to get a better look at the damage she'd done. The swelling had gone down a bit but the bruise was there to stay for a while. "Sorry..."

"It's okay. Sorry I slapped you first."

"You what?" She didn't remember getting slapped.

"Oh never mind, forget I said anything."

The brunette let it go deciding it was okay not knowing. She still felt bad about punching her friend even though she was forgiven. She wanted to make it up to her and although it may be dumb, she had an idea.

"Wait here."

Jade was left alone on top the roof for a few minutes as she waited for her to return. She could hear the back door open and close again followed by the footsteps climbing up the metal ladder. Tori threw herself back down to the tarp and had a little box in her hand.

"I'm not even half way into my pack yet."

"Nope, look again."

She did as she was told and took a closer look at the box held up in front of her. It was the bandaid pack from her house. "Tell me you're kidding."

"You never know, they might help."

"They won't help. I just gotta wait it out."

"But you can wait it out in style." She sent a wink hoping to win the girl's approval.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's dumb."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No..."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Jade!"

"Fine!" She couldn't believe she was letting her do this. Again.

"Yes! Would you like a purple one again?"

"Whatever."

Tori fished out a purple bandage and gently placed it on the swollen cheek in the same spot as before. Jade was looking at her, arms crossed, expecting something else.

When it never came she asked about it herself. "I don't get a kiss this time?"

Tori found herself at a loss for words. She stumbled over her own thoughts, her heart skipped a beat, and it seemed to get a lot warmer out than it was a second ago. "I uh...you wanna, but d-didn't uhm...what?"

Something about seeing the girl get so easily flustered brought out a tingle in Jade's stomach. "It's only fair since this is your fault. You should make it better. Right?"

An audible gulp was swallowed. Tori tried to calm herself down but her heart was pounding against her chest. _"She just wants a kiss to make it better. No biggie. You did it before, just do it again. You got this."_

She pushed a lock of chocolate brown hair behind her ear. _"It's just Jade. Asking for a kiss. She wants you to kiss her. On the face. Just the face."_

She leaned forward looking into those pale blue eyes that fluttered shut. Tori looked down to her pouted lips. _"Her lips look so soft...I'm kissing the bandaid right? Yeah just peck the bandaid. You got this Tori. Focus."_

Jade leaned in closer too. _"Oh my God, she's leaning in! I can't do this! I can't do this!"_

Tori closed her eyes and leaned in the rest of the way planting a kiss. She felt a smooth synthetic surface under her lips letting her know she landed on the bandaid. Her lips stayed there for a few seconds before she pulled away and made eye contact again with the other girl.

Both of their faces were bright red. They wouldn't have known about it had it not been for the full moon shining its bright light over them. The both of them knew why they were blushing but neither spoke a word of it. They separated and looked away from each other.

"...Thanks."

"...No problem."


	14. Chapter 14

A bright light casted over Jade's closed eye lids insisting she woke up. She tried her best to ignore it by squeezing her eyes tighter and rolling over. It was a good attempt but the new position introduced an uncomfortable jab in her side. Every new toss and turn only brought about more discomfort and it was apparent she wasn't getting back to sleep.

Her eyes squinted open to the morning of a new day. The sun was peaking over the ledge where the ladder was attached to it. She must have dozed off up there while star gazing. She sat up and looked around seeing Tori still sound asleep next to her.

The memory of last night replayed in her mind. The girl managed to convince her to wear another bandaid even though there was really no need for one. Her hand reached up to touch the bandage stuck to her cheek. It hurt a little but she's felt worse. Then she remembered the kiss.

It was equally as unnecessary as the bandaid but making Tori embarrassed was her own kind of payback for giving her the black eye. That and a part of her wanted to feel those lips on her skin again.

She took a moment to really look at the sleeping girl to admire her in secret. It was strange how she developed feelings for someone who used to cause her so much anger and frustration. Well she still caused frustration, but it wasn't out of hatred anymore.

She tore her gaze away from the girl when she heard someone climbing up the ladder.

A young girl popped her head up over the ledge and called out to them. "Hey good morning! Beck said you guys might be up here."

Jade rolled her eyes annoyed at her for bothering to come up there. "Yeah you found us, what do you want?"

"We're making breakfast."

Tori stirred awake at the notion of food, slowly opening her eyes. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah we're making oatmeal."

"Nooo..." She rolled over to go back to sleep only to find herself with the same predicament her friend just had.

Oatmeal wasn't worth waking up for. But they went down to ground level and ate with everyone regardless of the gooey mesh they would call breakfast.

After everyone was done, they picked up where they left off the day before.

First thing was to set up a way to move some of the heavier things up to the roof. They didn't grab any rope during their trip to Home Depot but they did have a couple longer extension cords from the supply closet they could use in place of it. There wasn't enough to make an effective pulley system, however they improvised a ramp out of some crates and a stall door. It took a little extra time but it got the job done.

Walls were built around the perimeter of the roof creating enough coverage to where they would have to only crouch to be hidden. There were some gaps and holes but it was effective for the purpose it needed to serve.

A low screech sounded off with some static noise afterwards. Tori reached behind her waist band and pulled out a walkie talkie. She fiddled with the knob tuning it to a specific station before holding down a button and talking into it.

"Say again?" She released the button waiting for an answer.

"You gotta say it, over." It was Madison.

"Sorry. Say again? Over."

Jade shook her head trying to focus on her work.

The next task was to set up their garden on top the roof as well. It would be the best place to get the most sun light as well as being secluded for only their use, whether it be other people or animals looking for a quick bite to eat.

"We're sending up the sinks, over."

Beck was double checking to make sure the extended walls were all secure when he heard the announcement. "I thought we were using the toilets?"

His ex answered him. "I'm not eating from anything that was used to hold people's dumps. We're using the sinks."

"Fair enough."

The detached sinks were brought up and placed into a designated spot in the gravel. Dirt was poured in and a different kind of seed was planted in each sink then watered. One might call it art had it been seen before the world ended.

A few more final touches and last minute additions were made before it was time to turn in for the night.

The next day was going to be focused on the most time consuming project, building a wall around the back door and ladder. As for getting it done, a trench was needed to be able to set the stalls into so they could stand on their own. The fence they had could have worked but they already used it on the windows and it could've been easily climbed over so it wouldn't have been as secure in the end anyway.

Luckily for them, most of the ground around the building was dirt aside from the porch section of the front doors and the area under the over hang for the gas pumps, which was all layed down with cement. The dirt was packed down pretty hard though and would take some time and elbow grease to dig into. Andre was kind enough to offer to do the dirty work.

In the meantime, the others took a break to go over the plans and relax in general.

Eleanor was talking about the garden, clearly excited to pick up her old hobby again. Beck and Jade were listening to her tell all kinds of tricks and secrets she knew. Tori on the other hand had been trying to pay attention as well but was pulled away to look at something else.

Madison had the portable stove out with various ingredients around it. She was going over the process of how to make some smoke bombs with the powder she snagged. She was happy to see the older girl looking interested as she payed attention. If she understood it at all or not was another thing, but the effort was appreciated.

A pair of blue eyes peered over at the two from a distance, clearly unhappy.

The back door swung open startling the boy who had been zoned out while digging the trench. He stopped his work from the jump and was now clutching a hand to his chest to steady his heart rate.

"Jade! Dang, you nearly scared me half to death."

"Shovel. Now."

"Oh nah it's cool, I don't mind diggin'."

The girl held her hand out as she glared at him. He got the hint and handed the tool over without further explanation needed.

He retreated inside as she threw the shovel into the ground and forcefully drove it deeper with her foot.

Some time went by before the door opened again by Beck this time. He watched the girl angrily stab at the ground over and over again before tossing the loose dirt to the side. More than half the trench was dug out already.

"Hey."

"What?" She snapped back, not stopping her assault on the ground.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

Her voice was practically venomous. Beck was smart enough to know that she needed to work whatever was pissing her off out of her system. He's seen her like this before, many times, and usually her temper settled after causing enough damage. He opened the door and left her alone to get her agression out.

Waiting for him on the other side was a nervous Andre, and a confused group of girls.

"She's probably fine." He told them.

By the time Jade reentered the building, everyone was gathered around the stove watching the little science project be preformed.

"The hole's dug. Let's set this stuff up before it gets dark." The boys got up to help and so did Tori but her assistance was quickly denied. "You stay."

"What? I can help too."

"Don't bother, we got it."

The three dissapeared through the back and Tori was left standing confused and hurt from the rejection.

Night came along and the barrier was set up. Surprisingly it stood firm in the ground. The extra discarded dirt was packed into the outer base of the walls sealing them in and on the other side were some remaining planks of wood propped up to hold them in place. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

The work they put into the place wasn't by far anything they would call perfect, but it was considerably more safe than it had been when they first arrived. More improvements would always be added when they were thought of. As for right now, everyone was satisfied with their home.

Everyone was off doing their own thing as usual. Beck was sleeping, Jade was up on the roof like she's been doing every night since they got there, and last time he saw them, Tori was telling Madison some crazy stories about her time at Hollywood Arts. Those two were practically glued to each other the past couple of days seeing as they did everything together.

Andre sat beside his grandmother who turned in for the night. She was an older woman after all. He had a distant look to his eyes thinking about something.

He never talked about it really but he still thought about Cat a lot. She was gone and he knew that, but he never got to say goodbye. He never even got the chance to tell her how he felt. Most nights ended with the thought of her and what they could've been had she still been around.

It was sad to think about but maybe it was better she wasn't around in these days. She was such a happy and beautiful person. Having her be in the situation they were in just didn't seem fair. Searching for food, watching their backs constantly, living in a fort they had to build to protect themselves. This wasn't the life she should be living. That was the only thing Andre could pick out to make her death less painful to bear.

He heard the back door click and watched as Jade stormed through and out to her car.

At first it seemed as though she was going to take off as soon as the engine was started but it remained stationary. The only thing that changed was the blaring of music that echoed through the gas station. The front door was closed shut and so were the car windows meaning the volume must have been cranked up as high as it would go.

_"Something must have ticked her off again."_

**Ten minutes earlier**

Jade was sitting up on the roof again enjoying the cool fresh air the night provided. She was finishing her third cigarette and was about to light up her fourth.

The stress of building a scrap made fortress was weighing down on her. At least the major construction was over and done with. The only thing left was to make a look out schedule. She was going to take the night shift for sure but the rest would be figured out in the morning.

There were a familiar set of foot steps coming from behind her and without turning around she knew it was Tori.

She took a seat and looked down to the discarded cigarette butts.

"You're really burning through em tonight."

Jade only hummed back in response. Normally she enjoyed the girl's company but lately she's been feeling disconnected and it only served to put her in a sour mood.

Ever since the newest member of their team came along they've been having less time together. She wondered how long it would be before this moment was interrupted too.

As usual, the pack of cigarettes was passed over and one was taken out before being handed back.

Tori waited for the helping hand to light it for her but the silent request was ignored.

"Can I get a light?" The lighter was tossed in her lap. "You know I can't do it, gimme a hand here."

"No can do. You're a big girl now, and big girls gotta light their own death sticks."

"You used my word!"

"Eh, it's kinda catchy."

Tori smiled and looked down to her hands holding the lighter and cigarette. The satisfaction of landing a new nickname was nice but she still was left with the problem of not being able to join her friend for their nightly tradition.

An idea popped in her head that could land her in one of two outcomes. Either everything would be fine and they would continue on with their smoke, or she could quite literally be thrown off the roof and end up with some broken bones. It was a risk she was willing to take. She had to wait for the right moment before she could go for it though.

Jade held the cigarette in her mouth to lean back and adjust her seating and that was when Tori made her move. She swiped the half smoked stick out from between the other girl's lips.

"Hey!"

Jade protested and reached for it but Tori held it firmly in her fingers as she took a quick puff from it.

"See if only you lit mine for me, then you would still have yours." She blew a little cloud at her friend's face.

Jade thought about burning a few of the girl's valuables in that moment but decided against it. She took the single cigarette and stuffed it back into the pack. Her appetite was ruined. It was as if candy was stolen from a baby.

The two were alone for only a few minutes before they were joined by another. Just as predicted, Tori's little sidekick hopped over edge and ran over to sit between them.

"So this is where you guys sneak off to huh? It's like a special hang out up here."

She had only sat down in the unoccupied space between them but to Jade it felt like a wall was forced in, effectively separating her from the two.

Jade listened to them talk to each other, not picking up any of the conversation. She was beyond annoyed at the fact that Madison was always around now and she had about enough of her.

She stood up and stomped off to the ladder.

Tori called out to her. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Somewhere else."

"But-"

"Alone."

She quickly reached the bottom and made her way through the the store front and out to her car.

The keys were jammed into the ignition and turned to start it up. She needed to block out everything for a while. Her hand searched through the glove box to pull out a random CD. It didn't matter what it was as long as it would drown out the world around her.

The music could be heard loud and clear from outside. The girls on top the building listened without talking over it.

It was as if Madison knew she did something wrong but she didn't know what. She wasn't stupid, it was clear she upset the goth.

Tori on the other hand felt like she was being stabbed repeatedly in the gut. She's had a hunch for a while now that her crush was avoiding her. After being excluded from several projects the past couple days and outright ditching her just now, she was convinced the girl wanted nothing to do with her anymore. And they had just gotten so close.

The cigarette she held in her hand died out two songs ago but she didn't care. Her heart ached. And for the first time since they left her house, she felt lonely again.


	15. Chapter 15

It's been a few days since the first installation of security had been added to the gangs new home. It took some time but along with having the windows reinforced, back door secured, and a garden established on the roof, they managed to prop some walls up there for a better watch tower effect. There was even a watering system made from PVC pipes and tubes that looped through each sink, being used as a gardening pot, to evenly distribute a jug of water. It was both effective and reduced over watering and wasting the precious resource. Just a little added engineering genius thanks to Beck.

It might have not seemed like a lot had been accomplished but seeing as they couldn't call up the local landscaping company meant they were left to their own imaginations to get it done. Which was certainly a challenge at times. Especially hauling up the panels that were used on the roof. Talk about heavy lifting.

Yet the most exhausting part of it all was dealing with the tension that seemed to appear out of no where.

Jade had began avoiding Tori. It started as little things like going to the bathroom before a conversation could arise, or claiming to need some alone time. The excuses eventually stopped and the goth would just walk away wordlessly. The only real time the girls spent any time together was when everyone was together or as they were swapping shifts for the look out.

Making the watch schedule was a bit of a tricky one to work out. There may have been six of them but two of their members where unreliable in their own ways. Maddison was too young to be trusted with such a task seeing as it would require her to have undivided attention for hours at a time and no one really knew how she'd handle spotting something. Eleanor on the other hand was also incapable of having the job for obvious reasons considering her mental health. Which left the four friends to cover a twenty four hour time slot. It was easiest to mainly cover the dark hours of the day and just have someone during daylight doing something outside or on the roof to keep an ear out at the least. It wasn't the best round the clock security but no one wanted to pull six hours of boredom every day.

As it stands, first shift begins at six p.m. with Andre. After that is Beck at nine p.m. followed by Jade at midnight. Leaving Tori with the last shift until daylight.

Jade was currently on watch. It was nearly three a.m. which meant that her shift was ending soon. Which meant that she would see her soon. Normally that was a good thing, but lately the idea of spending quality time was just that, an idea.

Madison was practically glued to her hip everywhere she went. It was annoying, at least to Jade anyway. Her and Tori were getting along great and now she comes second to the new kid.

It infuriated her and caused her to lash out at times. Thankfully with all the work they've been doing, she's had more than enough physical labor to let out that agression. It surely helped dig the trench around the back door. And let's just say she volunteered to hammer in extra nails to any boards looking a little weak...or perfectly fine.

She heard the back door open followed by the familiar tip tap of someone climbing the ladder. Tori was there to begin her shift.

A part of Jade was happy to be alone on top the roof with the other girl. It was a precious moment of peace where it was just the two of them. However, it has turned into such a bittersweet moment due to her jealous nature making a mess of her social life once again.

Tori walked over and stood beside Jade, who was smoking while leaning over one of the new walls that was placed up days before. To say Tori was nervous was an understatement. Almost every advance she had made towards her crush was shot down. Whether it was simple conversation or a jab at their normal bickering. Her spirit was strong but even she was feeling defeated.

"Um.." She hesitated while finding words to speak. Her brown eyes turned up to the sky, taking note of the absence of clouds. "Nice night."

"Hm." Jade took another drag barely giving a reply.

She felt bad. And Jade liked bad. She liked being a gank to people. But not to Tori, not like she used to. Her damn emotions always got the best of her and she hated it. Sure she could take this moment and have all the time she wants right now to speak to her. Tease her. Socialize at all with her. But she couldn't allow herself to enjoy the little moments while she would only flip back to being nasty in the morning. In Jade's mind, she didn't deserve to feel good while Tori suffered cause of her.

Time ticked by slowly as the cigarette burned down a little more with each hit taken from it. They hadn't had a smoke together since the night Jade received her second bandaid. Tori was afraid to ask and Jade wasn't about to offer the one joy she still had all to herself.

She thought back on the day she had her first. It wasn't the best of days but maybe that's what finally pushed her to go out and slowly burn her lungs to a crisp. The story itself wasn't the most pleasant to revisit and a scowl made itself evident among pale lips.

Tori happened to see the frown form and figured she'd let her curiosity loose for a moment. "Is something wrong?"

Her frenemy heard the question loud and clear but took her time to think up an answer. "Well I've been a bitch to you for days. That little brat wont leave you alone. And I'm running out of cigarettes." Several other thoughts of anything that could be seen as "wrong" popped into mind as she stood there quietly.

"I guess you could ignore me too. That works."

Hearing Tori's voice deflate with defeat tugged a certain way at Jade's heart. "I've been...thinking." It was hardly an answer but it was enough for now.

"Thinking about what?"

"Just some stuff." She felt the brown eyed girl beside her watching, waiting for more. Sighing, she continued. "It's...personal. And complicated."

Thankfully no more questions were asked. Either that was satisfactory enough to not need any further explanation or Tori didn't want to push her more and risk creating even greater distance between them.

Normally by the time her last cigarette of the shift was done, Jade would be off the roof and down the ladder to get some rest. Tonight she lingered a little longer after. This was the most peaceful the two have been in a while and if she was being honest with herself, she missed this. But she couldn't let herself have it.

Jade turned away from the ledge and headed back inside right after saying a quick, "Night." leaving Tori alone for the remainder of her shift.

* * *

Once morning arrived everyone, aside from Tori who was now getting her sleep in, sat around inside snacking on whatever somewhat resembled breakfast. Whether it be granola, protein bars, trail mix. Anything to get their day started.

All the building was done with which left some more tactical means of defense was next. This was the moment Madison had been waiting for.

The smallest girl bounced around the room eagerly waiting for everyone to fully wake up. She had been given simple and easy to do tasks the entire time shes been a part of the group and today was her time to shine.

Today, they would be making mass amounts of smoke bombs. Aside from simply having bombs they could light and toss to cloud an area, they were going to set up traps. Nothing to really hurt anyone who triggers them. Just a way to signal if someone were to try and sneak up on them.

"Its really very simple. We take not so equal parts or the sodium nitrate and sugar, box it up, slap a fuse on it and we're ready to go!"

To Madison this was a fun little science project and a chance to show off to the bigger kids. To everyone else it was like being back in school but with less homework.

Andre wasn't up for the lecture but the idea of smoke bombs was pretty cool to him. Even if he was sure he'd never learn to do it by himself. "So what do you mean "not so equal parts" huh?"

Lifting a hand to scratch the back of her head, Madison let out an unsure chuckle. "Well I don't quite remember the exact measurements...but we probably wont blow up if it's a little off."

"Probably?!"

"Hey it'll be cool, dont worry! I know what it's supposed to look like so we're fine." She put on her best confident smile which turned out looking forced. It didn't seem to settle Andre's nerves in the slightest. "...I'll go get it all set up!"

The tutorial/prototype took all of ten minutes to complete. As she said, it was pretty simple. Now all she had to do was prove it worked.

Five of the six people went out front to where the gas pumps were to give it a test. The smoke bomb itself was encased in an old toilet paper roll wrapped in masking tape with a tiny green fuse sticking out the side of it.

Madison grasped the lighter and flicked it on bringing it closer to the fuse. With a deep breath of air and a final good luck prayer to herself, she brought the flame to the wick igniting it. The sparks were bouncing off the green wire faster than expected causing her to quickly discard it by tossing it into the street in front of them.

Seconds ticked by as the sparks traveled closer to the cardboard casing before sinking inside the tube. A few more seconds passed without anything happening. A disappointed whine was let out by the little scientist.

"Well that blew." Jade rolled her eyes heading back inside. But before she could get to the door they heard a muffled pop and all eyes were brought to the tiny roll now spewing a thick cloud of smoke onto the road.

"Yes! I knew it! I totally did it!" Madison was literally jumping for joy.

"Woah! That's insane," Beck was honestly impressed at how efficient it was. "how long does it go on for?"

"I uh...I have no idea."

Between the pop and the smoke, Eleanor had been triggered into another episode. "Andre the bloodhound gang is back to finish me off!"

"Gramma the bloodhound gang is a band not an actual gang. Just calm down."

"They took the highlighters out if my wallet and replaced them with sharpies! Sharpies Andre! They're permanent!"

Andre took to taking care of his grandmothers crazy hallucinations as usual leaving the ex couple and new kid by themselves to continue watching the smoke fill the space in front of them. It went on for almost a minute before dieing out leaving enough of a cloud that could probably hide half their group inside of it.

Beck walked up next to Madison resting a hand on her shoulder. "You did good kid. Real impressive."

Her eyes beamed up at him in adoration. "You really think so?"

"Totally, now all we gotta do is make a bunch more just like this one."

Jade watched the two up ahead of her, eyes narrowed as she did so. "Great, she stole Tori from me and now shes got Beck too." She knew it was all in her head, probably, but it didn't stop the intrusive thoughts from seeping into her mind.

By the time Tori had woken up they had plenty of smoke bombs prepared, ready to toss and also some made with a strike started fuse. Those were to be set up on a post with trip wire so when the string would be pulled free the fuse would be stroked and ignited setting the bomb off.

Madison was quick to fill in Tori on the success of her little project to which she obtained more praise for the job well done.

"That's really cool Maddy, good job!"

"Thanks, it was pretty cool. You should've seen it."

"So what's the plan now that we have all these things?" The sleepy teen examined one of the rolls carefully figuring it out. A bag filled with spare wood, nails, and tape was tossed into her lap.

"For starters you can make yourself useful and carry something. We're planting this shit in the woods." Jade answered a little rough.

"Can I get some breakfast first? I like literally woke up two minutes ago." Tori furrowed her brows not wanting to move from her spot on the ground.

The goth turned down one of the shelves that was still standing in the store front and grabbed a bag of doritos to toss at her friend. "Here. Now let's go." She left before everyone else getting a head start.

Tori sat there for a moment longer watching her crush leave out the back door.

* * *

Beck, Andre, Jade, Tori and Madison were out in the tree line surrounding the back of the gas station. Eleanor stayed back to work on the garden. Apparently the soil looked healthy and some seeds should start sprouting within the week. It was all very exciting for the elderly woman.

As for everyone outside the perimeter of the parking lot, it was less than ideal. Over a month of untrimmed grass and hedges made it a little difficult to maneuver through some areas, but luckily that helped determine which spots didn't need a trap set up.

They were going to place them down in hidden yet likely paths an intruder might travel on to sneak up on them. The idea was to catch anyone well before they have the chance to reach their base, so the smoke bombs were set up about two to four hundred feet away from the building itself. Once the bomb is triggered, the smoke should levitate up and over any trees or bushes indicating where it is the line was tripped.

Everyone set off individually to assemble the traps aside from Madison and Tori who stuck together. It wouldnt take very long for each one to be set up, maybe an hour tops. Then they would take the rest of the day to finally relax for a while.

The youngest teen was in the middle of demonstrating how to put together the contraption when the Latina next to her let out a sigh. It got her thinking about something that's been bugging her for a while and she needed to ask her about it.

"Hey Tori...I've been wondering something."

Tori was pulled from her worries and replied. "What's up?"

"Why do you let Jade treat you like that?"

Little did they know, the girl in question was just a couple trees away from them hidden from their view. It wasn't like she was following them or anything, Jade just happened to be setting up another trap nearby and overheard the two. She listened in quietly while still working.

"What do you mean?" Tori knew what she meant, although she hoped it was something different.

"Ya know like...she's mean to you. And you just take it." Jade's knuckles turned white from gripping the trip wire as tight as possible. She knew she's been a bitch to Tori, more than usual, but hearing it brought up reminded her how awful she was and it infuriated her. Madison continued, "You're such a nice person and you deserve better than that."

Tori was thinking of something to say back to ease the child's worries when a nearby trap was set off shooting out smoke meters away from them. Her initial thought went to an intruder until she heard a familiar voice yell out.

"Jade!"

Upon hearing the unfiltered opinion from Madison, while still being ticked off from being feeling like shit, Jade had yanked the cord too forcefully and activated the bomb blasting her face with smoke along with scorching her right hand from the explosion.

Her finger tips were on fire. It was as if the skin was burning with pins and needles dipped in acid. It hurt like hell.

Tori ran straight into the fog in search of her friend finding her almost immediately. "Jade are you okay? What happened?"

"What the fuck do you think happened? I blew myself up Vega! Fuck!" Her blood was boiling in anger and embarrassment from doing this to herself.

"Let me see it, maybe I can-"

"No! Just leave me alone, I got it."

"Jade I can help." Her plea was denied as her crush pushed past her towards the gas station. "Wait!"

Jade turned around to face Tori once out of the fog only to lash out at her again. "Damn it Vega, just go fuck off with your little friend already! You obviously can't help me." Ending on that remark, she hurried back to their home to tend to her newest wound and hopefully clear her head.

Tori stood at the edge of the tree line watching her injured friend storm off and back into the building. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed in a death grip beneath her rib cage. Tears welled up in her eyes. She truly felt helpless and felt herself crumbling again. All she saw was Jade walking away. Shunning her yet again. Completely unaware of the other three friends running up to her asking what happened.

Madison was at a loss of what to do. She wasn't sure how but she felt this was somehow her fault. It must have been a coincidence. Even still, her friend was suffering and she wanted to end it. Her green eyes followed Tori's teary gaze back to the Exxon. She had a stupid idea.

Inside the gas station bathroom was Jade dousing her hand with a water bottle. Everything burned. Her hand, her blood, her heart. Her life sucked right now and she just kept fucking it up for herself. She applied hand soap to the back of her hand where there were blisters forming.

"Fuck damn it!" Biting back any other profanity, she let out a strained sigh.

Just then the door to the bathroom creaked open. She figured it was Tori but to her surprise it was her current least favorite occupant.

"What do you want kid? Cant you see I'm busy?"

Madison stood awkwardly in front of the closed door. She spoke up nervously, not sure if what she wanted to say would only serve to further aggravate the enraged woman. "I know you don't like me..."

This brought out half a chuckle from the other girl. "Oh big shocker there. How'd you figure that out genius?"

"Whatever, look I don't know why you treat Tori the way you do, but I do know she deserves better than the crap you give her."

"Alright what I do to Vega is none of your damn business, got it?" She really didn't need a lecture on being a good person, especially from some kid.

"Well in case you didn't know, you're supposed to be nice to your girlfriend Jade!"

Everything running through Jade's mind slammed on the brakes hearing the words that came out the child's mouth. "What?"

"You're supposed to love and protect each other, not treat them like a bother and push them aside like old garbage. I don't know why she even likes you, you...you gank!" Madison stood up to Jade like a bully on the playground.

All of the anger fled her body listening to that last part. She didn't even feel the pain in her hand at that moment. It was like a switch had been flipped turning off the rage mode she had been set to. "She told you she likes me?"

Now Madison was confused and maybe even a little scared at the shift in mood. "Well uh...no. I just figured..." An awkward silence filled the bathroom. "Are you guys not...ya know...dating?" To be honest she felt a little stupid asking, it seemed so obvious to her before now.

Pale cheeks quickly turned a few shades darker. "Oh great, now she's gonna tell Tori and that'll be another problem I have to deal with." The confused question look was still plastered to the thirteen year olds face meaning she wasn't getting away from this topic. "No we're not."

"...sorry I just figured you were. I mean when you guys found me I heard you two bickering and it sounded like you were trying to make her jealous of my sister."

"You heard all of that huh?" Now Jade was embarrassed. "I guess she knows I hit her sister too then."

"Yeah..."

Again they were surrounded by silence. This was the most uncomfortable situation that could possibly happen right now and it had to be with the most uncomfortable pair of people to be having this conversation with.

"Okay I know I've been a major bitch lately and as much as it pains me to say it, you're right. And I don't deserve anything from you but do me a favor and keep this information from Vega." Baby blue eyes locked with deep green ones pleadingly. "Please."

"Why?"

"Because I'm asking nice damn it."

Madison ignored the lack of "nice" on that last part. "No like why keep it a secret?" She walked over towards Jade now that she didn't seem hostile. "I mean, like I said, I'm pretty sure she likes you too."

"I never said I liked her."

"You didn't have to stupid."

"Hey!"

"Sorry..." Now was not the time to add insult to injury. Literally. "So why not tell her?"

Jade thought about it. She already knew for some time now that her preppy friend had feelings for her. That's why she teased her so much. She also knew that she returned said feelings. So why not take the lead and do something about it as she normally would? "I'm waiting...for the right moment...I guess."

"Right, right makes sense. So then if you like her then how come you're such a- uhm...mean to her?"

"Is this really "come out to the new girl" time right now?" Jade let out a defeated breath giving into the conversation. "I tend to...over think sometimes. Then I over react." "I can't believe I'm telling this to this kid."

"I get that, sometimes I under think and over react." She said with a goofy grin. "Hey! You should let me help you get with Tori!"

"No."

"Aw why not? I've got a great mind for great ideas."

Jade rolled her eyes bringing her attention back to her hand which was stinging again. "Yeah well your last great idea nearly blew my hand off."

"Not my fault you put it up wrong." That earned her a glare. "I mean uh...I'll go find you stuff for your hand."

The small girl fled the bathroom to search the gas station for any over priced neosporin or bandages. Since most of the shelves had been broken down, a lot of stuff was tossed into some bins and boxes stored away in the supplies closet.

Madison opened the door to the closet and looked at the utter chaos she would have to search through to find a tiny tube of ointment and maybe, MAYBE a bandage. "This might take a while..."

Meanwhile outside Beck was finishing up the last few traps while Andre talked to Tori in an attempt to comfort her. They sat on a fallen log facing the gas station.

"Come on Tor, you know how Jade gets when...well anything could happen and she turns into a bitch. Don't take it to heart." He had an arm wrapped around her shoulders.

She sniffed back the tears that still hadn't yet fallen from her eyes. "I know how she is Andre and I really don't think this is one of those times."

"Well she did just mess up her hand. I'd be pissed too."

"I'm not talking about just now." She slumped down to rest her head in her hands. "She's been distancing herself from me, I just know it. We were doing so good I just...I don't know what I did."

"Did you try talking to her about it?" Of course he knew she did because she's just that kind of person to try and talk things out.

"Well yeah I tried. Several times too. But everytime I get a chance to she leaves."

"Hm...have you tried not talking to her?"

"Andre!"

"What?! I'm just saying sometimes a girl just needs her space. I mean we've all been cooped up for a while now and maybe this is all just some big misunderstanding."

"Maybe you're right..." Her brown eyes casted down to their shoes. She was thinking something over for a minute before standing up with her decision. "I'm gonna go talk to her."

Before Andre could protest she was already running towards the front door. "Man I hope she knows what shes doing."

She didn't. In fact she had no plan of what she would say to make the other girl listen to her. She was sure she wasn't crazy or over thinking it. Jade was definitely avoiding her and it was going to stop today. Even if she had to tie her down and make her talk.

Inside was mostly empty due to the lack of shelving so it was easy to see Jade wasn't lingering around here. Her next guess would be to go to the roof so she headed towards the back door. Something caught her attention though as she passed by the bathrooms. She heard a familiar sound. Something she hadn't heard for a long while now.

"That's Jade's voice." She quietly approached the door to the women's bathroom and leaned against the wall beside it. "She's singing?"

"I was feelin' insecure

You might not love me anymore

I was shivering inside"

Her voice was still as perfect as ever. Tori closed her eyes and let herself fall into the song. For just a moment, she forgot the world had ended.

"I was shivering inside

I didn't mean to hurt you

I'm sorry that I made you cry

Oh I, I didn't wanna hurt you

I'm just a jealous guy"

Tori listened to the words as they were sang and couldn't help but feel like the goth was singing from the heart. She just didn't know the reason why. The song had been cut short though as she heard a pained swear.

"Shit!"

Tori busted through the door giving up on being sneaky. "Jade are you okay?"

The girl in question had only poured more water over top of her hand causing it to burn again. Their eyes locked in the mirror. Jade realized Tori had heard her singing. Likewise, Tori realized she had been caught snooping.

Jade wanted to snap back at her friend as she had done so many times lately. Not only for asking what she thought was a stupid question, but also for clearly hiding outside the door listening to her sing. Then she thought about her little chat with Madison. Maybe it was time for her to stop.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She spoke calmly.

Tori took a cautious step towards the sink. When no signs of threat were shown she continued the rest of the way to now stand beside her friend.

"Can I see it? If that's alright with you." The injured hand was lifted towards her for a better look. She grabbed it with both of her hands, careful not to touch any damaged skin. "You really did a number on this one."

"Wow, thanks."

"Sorry..."

"It's okay."

Tori inspected the wounds seeing just how bad it was. Definitely burned, a few blisters. Nothing too bad. It was all on the surface from what she could tell. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh no, it feels like sunshine and rainbows dancing on my fingertips." Jade used her mocking voice. It was meant to make ease of the situation. Unfortunately it was taken as another insult judging by the lack of response. "It hurts a little."

"Only a little?" She knew bullshit when she heard it.

"Eh, I'll survive."

"You better."

They were having a civil conversation, almost. It was nice. This was certainly more words they've spoken to each other in a while. It was also the closest they've been in a while.

Jade watched Tori's eyes wander around the back of her hand, looking at the discoloration and marks left behind. She hadn't seen the girl move a hand to try and lightly touch a healthier spot close to one of the blisters. But when she did it sent a stinging pain through her arm making her jump.

"Ah damnit! Look don't touch!"

The hand was retracted fast followed by an apology. "Sorry! I just-"

"It's okay just...be gentle with it alright. Its fresh."

Jade gave a little squeeze to the hand still holding on as a way to say she's fine. Tori returned the squeeze and looked up to those blue eyes she hasn't looked into for days. She spotted the little purple bandaid on her cheek making a tiny smile tug at her lips.

The door to the bathroom opened revealing Madison with some tubes of ointment and a first aid kit. "Okay so I found this thing and some vaseline. Is that cool or-" What she walked in to see was the two older girls in front of her holding hands not a foot apart from each other. "Oh...oh!" Then a brilliant idea formed in her head. "Tori! Since you're here now, you can take care of her!" She spoke a little too eagerly.

Jade raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, take care of?" She was no child in need of help.

"Yeah! So here ya go." She tossed everything she was holding into a neighbouring sink and left immediately.

The two were alone again and Jade had a funny feeling she knew what was going through the younger girls mind. She may have just obtained a wingman. "A little sloppy, but it'll do."

They looked over the creams and inside the first aid kit to see what they could use. There was no neosporin or antibacterial healing ointment unfortunately, but there was rubbing alcohol, medical pads, and gauze.

The hand was already clean enough from the bathroom dispenser soap so that was taken care of. And after a few deep breaths and swear words the rubbing alcohol was poured directly over top the burns. After it dried off a bit and Jade composed herself again, they thought it was a good idea to put a layer of vaseline before wrapping her up.

"Okay I think that'll do it." Tori brushed her hair back with her hand getting a good look at her job well done.

"Thank God." Jades hand was all wrapped up and on it's way to healing but damn did that hurt worse than anything she's felt before.

Everything was put back in the kit and they were going to regroup with the rest of their friends to let them know everything was alright. But as Tori went to leave the bathroom she felt a tug at her wrist pulling her back and into a hug.

"Thank you." There was brief pause before Jade said something else. "And I'm sorry."

She happily returned the hug. The apology was unexpected and needed no explanation but was absolutely accepted. She replied with a big smile gracing her lips. "No problem."


	16. Chapter 16

It had been a few days since Tori and Jade 'made up'. If that's what it could even be called. Either way things were starting to go back to normal with the new addition of Madison and Jade's budding friendship.

As unlikely as it was, they both had more in common than anyone would have assumed. As far as interests and style, they were as different as ice cream and soup. But on the other hand they both found joy from being better than their peers in one way or another and surprisingly had similar tastes in music and movies which sparked many stories and ideas to be shared between the two. And of course they also had a similar interest in getting a certain brunette to get a little closer to Jade after the rough patch they just got past.

Being Jade's designated wingman, by default, Madison had done her part to get them alone together as much as possible. Although, being as exaggerated as she tended to be, this lead to some blatantly obvious moments of solitude for the two teens.

On this morning the young girl decided it was a great time to do just that. All with good intentions of course. So when Tori had finally woken up from her post lookout nap, Madison practically cleared the room by demanding the boys check out the generator because she "swore" the lights had "flickered" meaning something was "wrong" with it. And at the same time she claimed to have needed Eleanor's advice on something with the garden. The old woman was more than happy to accompany her to the rooftop without a sliver of suspicion.

It was another sloppy execution, yet it worked. Jade was effectively alone with her crush. And the both of them sat in the same awkward silence knowing it was intentionally set up. Again.

Jade was the first to break the silence. "She sure knows how to clear the room huh?"

"You noticed it too right?!" Tori sat up from her makeshift bed in the corner and leaned back against the wall while stretching out her legs in front of her. "I thought I was just imagining things."

She leaned forward slightly at a sad attempt to touch her toes until she heard a pop and leaned back with a sigh.

"Getting old much?" Jade raised a brow at her, a slight grin tugging at her lips.

"Ha, funny." Another attempt at touching her toes got her fingers past her knees this time. Progress. "We've been here for how long and I still cant get used to sleeping on these floors. My fragile body cant take this kind of suffering."

"You're right, we'll make sure the next gas station we move into has proper vinyl instead of roll on linoleum."

Brown eyes rolled at the sarcasm while a smile propped itself upon Tori's face. "That's all I'm asking for. Glad you understand."

Their playful bantering went on as normal as both girls now sat beside each other leaning back against the front counter. They shared what was left of a pack of vanilla wafers enjoying the sweet, and stale, taste of it.

The both of them knew they were running out of food in their little home and really took their time to savor each bite. It wouldnt be too long before they were forced to find more food to support themselves once again. The garden was budding but the vegetables weren't quite there yet. And to be honest, Tori was still kind of nervous about eating them as she had confessed to Andre's grandma back at the warehouse.

Tori hadn't realized she fell silent until she felt a hand rest against her leg. Jade was looking at her with question and without needing to actually ask anything, she new what it meant.

"Sorry, I'm fine I was just thinking." She averted her gaze towards their shoes. Her thigh still tingled however at the light touch of the other girls hand that still rested over her jeans.

"Obviously. What about?"

Tori's eyes traveled up her legs and stopped on Jade's hand. It lasted only a moment before she turned her head up to look at the white speckled tiles of the ceiling. The paler girl caught sight of the short glance and retracted her hand as nonchalant as she could. If it was smooth or not, she wasn't sure, but her cheeks had definitely felt the tiniest bit warmer afterwards.

Suddenly impatient, she pressed on. "You gonna spill it or not?"

Still looking up to the ceiling, Tori answers back with the one word that would make any one of them daydream at that moment. "Food."

Hearing that simple four letter word was enough to make Jade's stomach tighten a little at remembering just how little they had left. On top of being short supplied, it wasn't exactly sustainable sources of nutrients either. Jade took a peak inside the snack sized pouch of wafers seeing only a few more cookies left. She held the bag out for her friend to take the rest of them.

"Oh no it's okay! I wasn't-"

"Just take it before I change my mind. Besides, I ate most of them already."

Tori eyed up the little bag deciding whether or not to take the remaining cookies. The decision was promptly made after hearing an impatient groan come from beside her which in turn made her jump a bit and grab not only the cookies, but also Jade's hand.

It was the hand that was recently hurt after being burnt from the smoke bomb incident. It still hurt from time to time but not nearly as much since it has had some time to start forming scabs over the less severe burns. Regardless of how much time has passed, Jade was sure she wouldn't feel very much of anything.

Since her initial talk (confession?) with Madison in the bathroom about her feelings towards Tori, and hearing from another person that Tori liked her as well, she was getting this feeling in her chest anytime they shared any sort of intimate moment with the girl. No matter how small. There was something about that extra reassurance that made her feel like they might have something significant between them. For the first time since before she was even with Beck, Jade felt nervous.

They could be sitting side by side on the rooftop looking at the stars wordlessly. Or bumping shoulders while working on dumb projects to pass the time. Even now as her hand was being held by both of Tori's, she could feel the burst of light being set off inside her ribcage at the contact. It was all she could feel right now. It enveloped her in this warm cloud of giddiness that wrapped around her body and twisted itself down into her guts.

Blue eyes locked with brown ones. Hands still held in place between them. Something was trying to pull Jade closer to the other girl yet she held herself firmly in place. _"Don't chicken out now."_

"Vega..."

The front doors burst open and their hands broke apart along with their gazes.

Beck and Andre were running in and headed towards the back door.

"Get to the roof!"

**Ten minutes earlier**

Madison was waiting eagerly at the top of the ladder for Eleanor to meet her. It took the old woman a tad bit longer to get to the top compared to the thirteen year old. But when she did arrive, a deep breath was exhaled as if she had just ran around the block.

"Wooh girlie! I'm not as limber as I once was. Did that ladder get taller since the last time?"

"Hmm, I don't think so Ellie. Maybe we can get the boys to install an elevator for you."

"Now there's an idea." She had a little laugh to herself and got down to business. "Alright now let's check on our goodies."

The older woman walked over to their garden and examined their hard work. Some of the eggplants were starting to form, lots of tomatoes were coming out as well. The lettuce unfortunately wasn't looking like it would survive but they could always try again or swap it out for something else.

"We got some takers and some losers. But if things keep up we should be set in less than two weeks!" Not getting a response, Eleanor looked behind her and saw the young girl leaning against the barricade looking out at nothing. "Ya didn't wanna talk about gardenin' did ya kid?"

"Actually...no. I just feel like..." Madison thought about her choice of words and what's actually been bugging her. "I don't know. It's like I got a new player handicap and the rest of you all got your designated roles."

"A handicap? Honey, did you see how long it took me to get up here?" Eleanor joked a bit to keep the mood light seeing as the girl was very clearly upset about something. "Alright, so you feel outta place. Is that it?"

"Well kinda. But also everyone just looks at me like I'm this little kid. But I can do stuff too! I can help with the watch and come up with ideas too. I got a big brain under this skull ya know." She puffed out her cheeks in frustration making her look like a stubborn child not getting her way.

Eleanor did all she could to not laugh and pinch the puffy cheeks and instead gave a big smile. "Listen up, cuz I'm about to unleash a whole can of life on ya kid."

Like she was told, the teen sat up straight and tentatively awaited the life lesson.

"When you have yourself a family, there has to be a few things to make it work. Communication, love, effort, trust, some other stuff I can't be bothered to think about right now...but anyway, these things take time. And as long as you keep your head on your shoulders and your eyes in the right direction, things will happen as they should."

Green eyes looked down to the gravel around their shoes. "But what if I'm never given the chance to put in the effort to build any kind of trust? How am I supposed to become a part of this family? You guys have all known each other for years. I'll never be able to catch up to that..."

"Well all I can say is if you're not given the chance, then make yourself an opportunity. Like ya said, you got yourself a big brain." An arm wraps itself around the smaller girls shoulders as she gets pulled into a side hug. "And baby girl, you're already part of this family."

Green eyes practically sparkle in the sunlight as they look up to the woman beside her. _"Family..."_

A muffled pop is heard off in the distance and the two girls look in the direction it came from. About three hundred feet away, a smoke cloud could be seen rising out and above the trees. One of the traps was set off.

The radio Madison always kept on her sparked to life as she heard Beck call over it.

"Did you guys hear that?"

She reached for the walkie talkie and brought it up to her face immediately. "Yeah we see the smoke too, get everyone up here."

She could hear her heart thumping in her ears from how hard it was beating. Somehow, Eleanor wasn't in full on panic mode yet but was certainly on alert with her eyes wide open and scanning the smokey area.

Whoever was out there set out a trap and now knew there were other people around assuming they were unaware of them before. Leaving three options. Either they'll confront the gas station upon finding them. Leave and steer clear of this place out of fear. Or leave and come back with reinforcements.

It felt like only seconds flew by before the sound of the back door opening and pitter patter of the ladder being climbed was heard.

The first one up was Andre who rushed over to check on his grandmother. Both surprised and happy to see she wasn't thrown into another stress induced episode. At least not yet he thought.

Next up was Beck who asked which way the explosion came from before he was even over the ledge yet. His eyes instantly became glued to the area in search of any movement or sounds he might be able to pick up.

Jade followed right after Beck to which she assisted him in keeping an eye out, her mind on the gun she kept tucked away in her jacket in case she needed to bring it out.

Tori was the last to make it and rushed over to Madison to find she seemed to be handling the situation pretty well aside from the tight grip she had on the older girls shirt since the moment she got to her.

They already had a plan of action put together for such an occasion. Tori had already locked the front door before heading to the roof so that was taken care of. The generator was supposed to be shut off so the place could look less valuable to strangers. Eleanor and Madison were to lock themselves inside the supply closet in case someone were to get inside. They couldn't risk the woman causing a scene in the middle of who knows what and Madison was supposed to try her best to keep the woman calm in case she were to panic. Also this way the young girl can stay safely out of the way and out of sight. Tori and Jade would remain on the roof seeing as Jade had the only firearm for distanced attacks and Tori would be another set of eyes to put it simply. Beck and Andre would be on the inside to guard the front of the store if need be with whatever tools they deemed fit.

That was the extent of their set up. As for the encounter part of the plan, well they had some ideas but ultimately they would have to truly test their improv skills based off the other person or people. They all agreed that if possible they'd prefer as little conflict as they could get. So at least everyone was on the same page and they could count on some level of negotiation on their side if it ever came to that.

Everyone knew what to do and with silent nods between them, they each got ready to dispatch to their predetermined posts.

"Wait." Everyone turned their attention to Tori who was looking towards the trees where the smoke came from. "Come look at this."

Carefully the others creeped towards the edge to figure out what they needed to see. Right there in front of the tree line was a deer. A buck to be exact.

Its head was held high as it scanned the surrounding area carefully. Perhaps it was just the deer that tripped the wire and stumbled it's way over towards them. It wasn't such a crazy thought considering the lack of people in town and well...everywhere. Nature was taking back what was taken from it.

The group looked at the animal off in the distance, half relieved and half ticked that all this running around was for nothing. It was a beautiful sight to behold though.

Until a gun shot was heard and shot right through the bucks thick chest. The bullet entered through one side and out the other carrying a trail of blood as it exited. The buck groaned out in pain and managed to jump ahead a few times before crashing its body down into the ground not too far off from the gas station.

Everyone ducked their heads down and out of sight behind the barricade and hoped they weren't spotted by whoever was hunting outside of their home. Now more than ever, they had to get their plan kicked back into action.

Madison was the first to get off the roof. Eleanor was being ushered towards the ladder as she was shaking violently. It was a miracle she managed to make it down at all without falling. Andre followed after and made sure the other two were safely locked away and out of sight. Once Beck joined them inside right after flipping the switch in the fuse box to power down the generator.

Which left Jade and Tori on the roof peaking through the cracks in the walls they built to keep a silent watch on the deer that layed dead before them.


	17. Chapter 17

Two men dressed in camouflage slowly walked out of the tree line behind the gas station. Each held a rifle in hand. Both looked equally as confident as if they feared nothing around them. As if the gun shot they fired through the buck didn't just sound an alarm for anyone to hear withing the surrounding miles. It was as though they knew what was right in front of them.

As the men approached the now deceased deer, they each grabbed hold of either antler and proceeded to drag it towards the Exxon.

Jade's eyes widened as she peered through a crack in the barricade from on top the roof. Her hand reached inside her jacket and firmly gripped the handle of the gun. Tori placed a hand on her arm to stop her from pulling it out. She mouthed the word "no" in an attempt to stop Jade from doing whatever crazy idea she had running through that mind of hers. The hand was retracted from her jacket, gun left behind in its former place.

It was her idea and a major part of the plan to begin any form of conversing with outsiders along with negotiations. Sure Tori was more likeable and would probably be able to sweet talk most people, but sweet wasn't how this world worked anymore. And Beck was too gentle at heart to make any rash decisions when necessary, although he is always a good voice of reason. Andre on the other hand opted out of the position due to not dealing with conflict and the well being of their group.

It was Jade's responsibility to initiate something with these guys. Even if it was to tell them to fuck off kindly. With a shakey breath, the goth pulled out her best act of confidence and rose up to look over the ledge. The men hadn't yet noticed her it seemed, which gave her a few more seconds to really pull a plan out of her ass.

"Hey!" And that's all she got.

It turned out to be enough because the men looked up to her and stopped in their tracks. Without skipping a beat, the both of them lowered their guns and raised their free hands as a sign of peace.

"Hello! We mean no harm!" One of the guys yell back as calmly as one could while shouting across a parking lot.

Tori watched on through the crack in the wall, hoping she wasn't seen still. She was waiting for the interaction to continue but no one spoke. The men waited with their hands still above their heads while holding the deer between them. Jade kept on glaring down at them in what seemed to be a state of deep thought.

In reality, her mind was racing with every possiblity she could come up with. Whether it be betrayal, a set up, misunderstanding, even the truth. The weight of the situation was crashing down on her. All her years of watching horror movies told her these guys were bad news. But for all she knew, these guys could really be coming in peace. At least her poker face was holding up.

The same hand that insisted she not pull out the weapon grabbed onto the back of her leg. Jade didn't allow herself to look down towards the girl crouching beside her, knowing it would be suspicious to the strangers, but she knew it was meant to ease her thoughts and edge her on. She could do this.

"You guys lost or something?" Her voice was stern and unwavering.

The same man spoke up again. "Actually my friend and I here have noticed your little camp here wanted to present a peace offering from our home to yours." Both men lifted the head of the deer by the antlers a bit to signify the "offering".

"You mean to tell me you've been watching this place? Not very endearing on your "peace offering"."

"Not watching, we just happened to notice some survivors here."

"Very likely..." Jade mumbled to herself.

She eyed the deer hanging limply between the men. Everything in her gut was telling her to reject any offer these two could present to them. The growl threatening to roar from her stomach told her otherwise. Should she trust them or not? Absolutely not. But they were already found and being watched for some time now. It was best to play some hand rather than fold right off the bat.

"Alright, what is it you want by coming out here? And don't feed me any peace keeping shit. You were sent here for some reason. What is it?" She narrowed her eyes down at them and gripped the wall as she waited for their response.

The men spoke hushed words to each other before nodding. "Perhaps we could speak face to face rather than shout across the lot? We'll disarm if that makes you all more comfortable."

An eternity passed before Jade gave a response. "I need a minute. Don't think about moving."

She backed away from the wall to leave the men's point of view. Tori rushed over to her side a little more than aggravated.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Well right now I'm just trying to think." Jade pinched the bridge of her nose trying to think of anything that wasn't the sick twisted ending of every horror movie she has binge watched in her life.

"Tell me you're not actually considering a chat with these guys..."

"Vega we have no food and they have a deer."

"They've been watching us Jade!" Tori mentally checked herself to make sure she kept her volume down. "We can't trust them."

"Don't you think I know that?" She snapped back at the brunette. "They could have other people out in the woods watching us right now too. For all we know they could be waiting to ambush us at this very moment. I dont exactly wanna piss em' off."

A cool breeze flew by the two girls sending an eerie chill down their spines. Had it not been for their current predicament, they would have blamed the shivers on the wind.

"So what are we gonna do?"

Jade let out a breath she'd been holding onto. She made her decision.

She brought up her walkie talkie close to her mouth and held down the talk button. "Andre. Beck. We're gonna go have a chat with some "friends"."

After giving the two men strict instructions to leave the guns bring the deer to the gas pumps in front of the building, Jade and Tori headed inside to run over the new plan with the boys. They didn't have much time so they had to make it fast.

Jade filled in Beck and Andre on what she knew about these guys based off of what she could see, what they told her, and her overall gut feeling she got from them. The plan was to basically hear them out and shoo them away with as little conflict as possible. They wanted nothing to do with them and if that meant giving up the deer, then so be it.

Tori on the other hand went straight to the supply closet and let Madison and Eleanor know they would need to be extra careful to stay hidden. All she said was they were going to speak with the men but this seemed to put a considerable amount of stress on the old woman, likely pressuring her towards having a panic attack. She felt bad but if things got noisy outside the room, the woman would for sure be sent into a frenzy. Especially knowing her grandson is out there.

While Andre's grandmother did some breathing exercises to remain calm, Tori brought Madison aside to whisper something in her ear.

"What? No way! Tori I-"

"Promise me." The look in the Latina's eyes was by far the most intense emotion the girl had seen from her so far. She knew not to fight it.

"I...I promise. Even though it wont come to that."

"Vega!"

Jade was ready to head out with their other two friends. Meaning Tori had to get back on the roof to keep an eye out in case more people show up.

She was at the back door when her hand was taken and pulled back to make her stop. It was Jade.

"Wait. Before you go..." she reached inside her jacket to pull out the pistol. "...take this with you."

Tori looked down at the gun that once belonged to her father. It had been nearly two months since he shot himself, since the beginning of the end of the world. She didn't want the gun. She wanted nothing to do with it. It only brought bad memories and pain.

"Take the gun."

"But Jade...I can't." Her eyes fell down and to the side unable to look at it any longer.

"If anything happens out there, you have to protect us."

"I cant."

"You can."

"Jade-"

"I trust you Tori," brown eyes turned back to find blue ones but never met them as they were now casted aside. "...more than anyone. You'll take care of us if it comes to it. But I doubt it will."

"Jade!" Beck called out for her meaning the men must have made it to the pumps.

The girls time was up. Tori pulled Jade in for a tight hug, wishing her to be safe along with their friends. She watched her turn around and leave towards the front of the store. Her hands gripped the gun left in her possession. It was time for her to get in position.

Outside the gas station now stood the two men, Jade, Beck, and Andre. The two groups stood several feet apart from each other. The more talkative of the two men spoke first upon their meeting.

"It's nice to have a proper chat with you at last." He wore a smile and spoke like he was part of a welcoming committee. "I'm Jacob, and this is Larry." Larry simply hummed after being introduced. "You'll have to forgive him, he's not much of a talker."

"I'm Jade, these are my friends."

"Pleasure to meet you Jade. Do your friends have names?"

"Yep."

"...uh-"

"Sorry they aren't much for talking themselves." Even in serious situations she had to be a pain in someone's ass. "So what do you want?"

Jacob quickly recovered from being mocked and moved on to business. "Right, as I mentioned before, my group wishes to gift your group this deer as a peace offering."

"Yeah about that." Jade recalled a good point Beck brought up after being filled in on what happened. "I was thinking how funny it was you were able to shoot down a deer right behind the place you wanted to give it to. Awfully convenient isn't it?" It was risky throwing accusations at possibly dangerous people, but she figured it was necessary to test the waters for how these guys function.

"Ah yes, you see we were actually luring the deer down towards you here. We found it and thought it was a good idea to get it to you as fresh as possible, while also saving us some time and energy on dragging it around. We considered cleaning one up for you guys and just delivering the meat but seeing as "stranger danger" still applies today you could make sure it's not tampered with this way."

The soft smile on Jacob's face was starting to piss Jade off. It was a logical reason sure, maybe that's all it was. She still didn't trust his motives though.

"I understand it may be hard for you to trust people these days, let alone two guys who just showed up on your door step. But I assure you, our people are good people. And we would like to adopt you into our group. Of course there will be certain-"

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why us? You don't know us. About us. What we've done or where we came from. How are you so sure you can trust us?"

Andre stood unmoving with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His face left with a blank expression the entire time Jade and Jacob spoke. He was their strong silent figure. Hopefully his no bullshit demeanor was intimidating enough for no one to try anything. It seemed to catch Jacob's attention at the least as the man kept glancing his way every so often. The thought brought the tiniest of smirks to Jade's lips.

Jacob cleared his throat before giving his explanation, which the teens figured he had one for every question they could throw at him.

"Well during our observations we concluded the five of you were simply trying to survive and defend rather than divide and conquer. That's why you built walls and smoke flares, not weapons and traps. Am I correct in assuming so?"

The three friends stood in silence taking in just how much this other group had known about them. How long had they'd been watching? How did they not notice? Were they always creeping in the trees? How many were watching them speak at this very moment? But one question seemed a little off and Beck couldn't help himself but to ask.

"Five?" He blurted out without thinking.

Normally Jade would have been ticked off seeing as Beck was supposed to be there as a negotiator and let her do the digging for information. Right now however, she would have asked the same question. Maybe the men were bluffing to some degree.

That thought was put to rest however as Jacob once again rained down accurate information. "Yes, the three of you, another young woman around the same age, and an elderly woman. This might be a bit racial, and I apologize if I'm incorrect, but perhaps a relative of yours?" He gestured towards Andre who in turn gripped the sides of his shirt to keep from lashing out at the mention of his grandmother.

So these guys really hadn't been bluffing. Their people have definitely being keeping at least a little watch on them. For how long? Jade didn't care to find out. But the one thing they missed was Madison. Which meant it couldn't have been before the smoke bombs were set up. Otherwise they most definitely would have seen the child.

A small bit of relief washed over the goth knowing their newest member was safe for now.

"Do you have any other questions you would like for me to answer while were at it?" His smile remained upon his face even through the slightly taunting sway in his voice.

"How many people are "observing" now?"

"None."

"You're saying you two are alone? Completely?"

"Yes. As I mentioned earlier, you and your friends are not a threat to us. Besides I have a strict time frame for Larry and myself to return home otherwise reinforcements will come searching for us. Safety precautions of course."

"How do I know you don't have people stationed out in the woods, ready to ambush at any moment?"

"Because. Trust cannot be built on a foundation of lies."

_"What is this guy? Some kinda literature hippy?"_

"Was there anything else you would like to know?"

This whole time they've been discussing Jade and her friends, and how much the other group knows about them. It was time the other guys shared some of their back story too.

"Tell me about your group."

This brought a chuckle out of so far silent Larry. The air became heavier after that. Suddenly everything seemed off, like they missed the punchline of a joke.

"See our group...we're the divide and conquer type."

Jade gulped down what little saliva she had in her mouth to soothe her dry throat. She kept her voice level with a hint of impatience. "Meaning?"

The front door to the gas station swung open with Eleanor throwing rolls of toilet paper out of the store front.

"Andre! The mummies are back and they want their clothes! I can keep them at peace if they stay naked!"

Everyone froze and stared at the woman in disbelief. The three teens couldn't believe this was happening now of all times. Jacob and Larry on the other hand looked...different.

Their moods changed like night and day in an instant. The mocked welcoming smile Jacob wore was replaced with a disappointed frown. Larry on the other hand had a twisted look of anticipation and excitement. There was something inside of him that shone through his eyes that made him look crazy and unpredictable.

Larry reached into his waistband and pulled out a pocket knife. Before he even flipped it open he was already lunging towards the old woman ready to attack. Andre, being his grandmothers keeper, was on him faster than he could imagine himself.

He wrapped his strong arms around Larry's torso trapping the hand holding the knife against the man's side. He thought he had a good enough grasp on him to stop his advances until he felt the free hand grab hold of his forearm and shift their bodyweight backwards.

They landed against the pavement with Andre underneath the older man. Larry maneuvered himself around and behind Andre to hold him face first into the ground with the knife behind his neck for good measure.

Beck went to assist his friend but was halted as soon as he heard a whistle behind him. Jacob held Jade in a headlock, his own pocket knife pressed against her neck. He noticed they were moved some feet farther away than originally.

Looking up to the roof he could see Tori at the edge of the barricade holding the gun over the ledge frozen in place. She wasn't able to see them from under the gas pumps overhang.

"Your friend can't help you from up there bud. I must say, I am very sorry for your old lady there."

"Don't you fucking touch her!" Andre squirmed under Larry's grasp. The knife was pressed against his skin to remind him of his position.

Jacob spoke again. "Ya know, we really did want to take all of you with us. But we have a very strict rule of no infected allowed."

"She's not infected!" Beck stepped forward pleading for his friends. "She's crazy yes, but not with this parasite. Years before all of this she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, you have to believe me!"

Jacob looked over Beck's shoulder to see Eleanor still tossing toilet paper and now paper towels out of the front door, completely oblivious to the struggle happening only meters away.

Beck tried again, hoping Jacob had some sense of mercy inside of him that his partner clearly lacked. "Please. We've lost people to the parasite. Friends, family. This woman is not infected. She doesn't need to be lost too."

Now this got the man thinking. His partner on the other hand was growing impatient. "Come on Jacob! Who gives a shit? Infected or not this bitch is crazy and should be exterminated like the rest of them."

Once again, Andre fought against the weight on top of him. This time he received a harsh jab to the side to shut him up.

"Jacob, please. I'm begging you." Beck pleaded once more.

"What's your name kid?"

"Beck Oliver."

"I'll tell you what Mr. Oliver. You, your antsy friend over there," he nods towards Andre, "and the old lady can come back to our camp. There's a doctor there. If he says she's fine, she can live."

"Why can't you just go and leave us be? We weren't causing you guys any trouble. We can just go our separate ways."

Surprisingly, Jacob let out a sad sigh. "Listen, our group has this pact to save people in need as well as eradicate every last infected person from LA. We are cleansing the world one speck at a time. It's not the happiest job at times, but it's what needs to be done."

He let's go of Jade and folds in his pocket knife as she returns to Becks side. She looks up to Tori who was still on the roof, only now with the gun pointed down towards Larry.

"We didn't come here to hurt anyone. But we can't let you go on the chance the infection will spread. This is the best option I can give you. Otherwise..." he trails off not bothering to finish the thought. The teens didn't need him to anyway. It was clear what the other option was.

"We'll do it."


End file.
